Wheel Of Fortune fans left crushed as Pat Sajak’s final season gets delayed by months: ‘This is a nightmare’

Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune fans have been left crushed by the news that Pat Sajak’s last season has been delayed by months.

The 77-year-old retired from the main Wheel Of Fortune game show earlier this year, with his final episode airing on June 7.

Ryan Seacrest has taken over his slot, hosting the program alongside Vanna White, who presented the series with Pat for more than 40 years.

After leaving the flagship show, Pat is slated to do one last season of Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune, which was scheduled to premiere this Monday.

However it has emerged that Pat’s final run will not reach the airwaves until sometime next year, according to an ABC press release to TV Guide.

Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune fans have been left crushed by the news that Pat Sajak’s last season has been delayed by months; pictured on the main Wheel Of Fortune show

Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune is not the only show to be postponed – game show Press Your Luck and true crime series Scamanda have been pushed to 2025 as well.

The delays are a result of ABC’s sports coverage, as the network is shuffling shows around to make room for additional Monday Night Football broadcasts.

ABC announced it is adding ‘six Monday Night Football simulcasts to its previously announced schedule,’ adding: ‘ABC is a destination for marquee NFL programming including, as part of our new deal, Super Bowl 61 (February 2027), the first of two.’

The network noted: ‘Furthermore, this move will give the ABC game shows Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and Press Your Luck a more consistent, weekly run in midseason when there are less preemptions (i.e. football, 2024 election).’

Fans of Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune were crestfallen at the news, dashing to social media to share their disappointment.

‘Today is the day of what would’ve been the premiere of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune and Press Your Luck, but sadly, we’ll have to wait until 2025,’ one wrote on Monday over a GIF of Jack Black saying: ‘This is a nightmare.’

Another fan had been looking forward to seeing Grey’s Anatomy actress Jessica Capshaw on the premiere that night, only to have her hopes dashed.

She wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘not me and alyssa waiting to watch jessica on celebrity wheel of fortune and finding out 10mins later that it was delayed from 2024 to 2025,’ adding a sobbing emoji to express her feelings at the development.

Fans of Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune were crestfallen at the news, dashing to social media to share their disappointment

Tori Spelling is pictured this January on an episode of Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune

Pat and his longtime co-star Vanna White appeared together on the main Wheel Of Fortune series for more than 40 years; they are pictured in 2007

One X user cheekily quoted a days-old post in which it was claimed that Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune had already filmed a Christmas episode.

‘When the “Celebrity Wheel of Fortune” Christmas episode airs in Spring/Summer 2025,’ wrote the user, waggishly adding a GIF of Andy Samberg on Brooklyn Nine-Nine saying: ‘Well this is awkward.’

Pat announced in June 2023 that his ‘wonderful ride’ on Wheel Of Fortune would be coming to an end this year after his 41st season.

‘I’d rather leave a couple of years too early than a couple of years too late,’ he later told his daughter Maggie on Good Morning America.

Following his departure, Pat will remain involved with the show for another three years as a consultant, according to Sony Pictures Television’s executive vice president of game shows Suzanne Prete.

Since his final episode aired, it was sensationally alleged that Pat felt ‘forced’ out of by the network and was giving Ryan Seacrest the ‘cold shoulder’ as a result.

Pat was said to be ‘resentful of the way he was treated and then kicked off the show’ and had no plans to furnish Ryan with any advice on how to proceed.

‘Ryan can reach out to Pat if he wants but asking isn’t getting. Pat’s always going to be busy, or he’ll brush Ryan off with a neutral, “You got this.” When Ryan takes over, Pat’s going to be watching and enjoying seeing how he fares in the hot seat which is full of challenges and not nearly as easy as he might think,’ a source told The Mirror.

The 77-year-old retired from the main Wheel Of Fortune game show earlier this year, with his final episode airing on June 7 (pictured)

Ryan Seacrest has taken over his slot, hosting the program alongside Vanna White, who presented the series with Pat for more than 40 years

It was further alleged that Ryan ‘knows he’s got huge shoes to fill being a worthy replacement for Pat’ and had launched a charm offensive to win over the people who work on the show – particularly Pat’s longtime co-star Vanna White.

During the run-up to his premiere episode in September, he purportedly went ‘full Mr. Nice Guy mode, putting on the charm, lavishing Vanna [White] and everyone else on the show with his homemade cooking, bringing treats,’ the insider added.

The source said he was ‘making a huge effort with Vanna and trying to win favor by taking her out to dinner and trying to get through any lingering tensions they’ve got.’

However he was said to be facing an uphill climb in his attempts to ‘build a connection’ with Vanna, who contractually has two more years on the show.

In July, Vanna broke her silence over the rumors that she ‘doesn’t jibe’ with Ryan as she posted a photo of them dining together.

‘Friends on and off camera. Enjoying one of our favorites, Chicken and Dumplings!’ she captioned the snapshot on Instagram.

Her post came weeks after a source told DailyMail.com that Vanna was mulling the prospect of leaving the show before her two-year contract expires.

‘It is just so difficult to do this without Pat. She just doesn’t jibe with Ryan like she did with Pat, and no one really ever expected her to. There is just no way that she possibly could,’ the source explained.

‘She knows that the show needs to go in a different direction and appeal to a younger demographic. She wants the show to continue. This will require a younger female host, someone who can be to Ryan what she was to Pat.’