Pat Sajak Knows That His Big Hope For Celebrity Wheel Of Fortune Is A Longshot
"Wheel of Fortune" has been airing since 1975, but the prime-time "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" is a relatively recent phenomenon, debuting in 2021. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, host Pat Sajak explained why they waited so long to finally launch "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune." "Part of it is, we've always been careful about not getting the show overexposed. ... this seemed like the time to do it because of what's going on in the world. Wheel of Fortune is kind of a sign of normalcy for people; they were very glad to have us back on the air."
"Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" has had its share of big name celebrities including skateboard legend Tony Hawk, "Price is Right" host Drew Carey, Peewee Herman actor Paul Reubens, comedian Patton Oswalt, rapper Vanilla Ice, and NSYNC member Joey Fatone. Yet still, there's one celebrity that Sajak says would be his dream to have on the show, even though he admits that it would be a long shot to get them.
Pat Sajak wants Meryl Streep on the show
In an interview with ET, Sajak talked about which celebrity he would most like to have on the show, and he certainly reached for the stars (no pun intended) when he brought up Meryl Streep. "I'm still pulling for Meryl Streep 'cause I wanna see her say, 'Come on, big money!'" he told ET. He then joked, "That's all I want, but she won't come on because she found out you can't win an Oscar for this."
It might not be as far-fetched of a dream as Sajak thinks, because celebrities seem to have nostalgia for the long-running game show. Ahead of her January 2022 appearance on the show, Laverne Cox posted to Instagram explaining that appearing on "Wheel of Fortune" was a childhood dream of hers. "I used to watch ['Wheel of Fortune'] with my family when I was younger and when the show came on, it was a time for us to bond, relax, and laugh together. I'm truly blessed to be living out a childhood dream of mine by being a guest on ['Celebrity Wheel of Fortune'], meeting Pat Sajak and [Vanna White], and having the opportunity to raise money for the charity of my choice, [the Trans Justice Funding Project]!" Similarly, in an interview on the "Wheel of Fortune" Facebook page, British comedian London Hughes said that her appearance on "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" made her parents prouder of her than ever before. "Yeah, this is a big deal," she told Maggie Sajak. "This is like the Oscars." So maybe Streep would be more excited to appear on "Celebrity Wheel of Fortune" than Pat Sajak realizes.