Pat Sajak has been hosting the popular television game show Wheel of Fortune since 1981.
For his work on "Wheel", Sajak has received a whopping 19 nominations for Daytime Emmy
Awards for the category of Outstanding Game Show Host – of which he won three of these.
While he's been a television fixture for decades now, many are beginning to wonder if his reign
at the top of the game show hosting world is finally coming to an end.
To brush you up to speed, Sajak has been facing a steady stream of backlash in the last few
years as he has made repeated mistakes and taken needless hurtful jabs at contestants
– one of which he even heartlessly mocked for having a lisp.
Is enough enough?
Has Sajak's time finally come?
Join us we discuss the possibility of Pat Sajak getting the ax in the near future.
We'll be going over several of the most shocking moments where the host clearly dropped the
ball in recent times.
A game show host's job is supposed to involve making contestants feel comfortable and respected,
but after this video, you'll see why we think Pat has abandoned this aim entirely.
The "Ungrateful" Jab
On November 25, 2020, Pat Sajak had a bit of a meltdown on his long-running show when
contestant Darin McBain challenged him on one of the puzzle answers.
Darin's mother was a three-day champion on Wheel of Fortunate back in 1982, so he clearly
is familiar with how the game is supposed to run.
He was tasked with solving a puzzle that involved guessing things that began with the word kitchen.
He was able to correctly guess answers such as towels, cabinet and sink, but he took issue
with the answer 'Kitchen oven' being on the board.
Darin playfully asked 'Who calls it a kitchen oven'?
Pat snapped back at him, seemingly lightheartedly, by calling him an 'Ungrateful player'.
He couldn't fathom why Darin was questioning him when he had already won the puzzle.
Although it had appeared that Pat was merely joking with the contestant, he would later
confirm that he had indeed 'finally snapped'.
Some who watched the episode expressed on social media that they believed that Pat almost
'lost it' on Darin.
That being said, most people seemed to only think that Pat was teasing the guy.
Darin ended up coming in second place at the end of the game, but evidently Pat felt the
need to clarify that he meant no harm and apologized to Darin before the credits rolled.
Pat apologized for yelling at him, but then snarkly added that he didn't remember his
mother giving him as much trouble as he did.
Mocking The Man With The Lisp
In an episode that aired in February 2021, contestant Chris Brimble introduced himself
as a computer tech salesman – in the process, he revealed that he suffered from a minor
speech defect commonly called a lisp.
After noticing the lisp, Pat replied by saying 'I thee' instead of 'I see' – clearly mocking
Brimble's manner of speech.
Immediately Pat came under a rain of fire from all directions.
Some long-time '"Wheel" fans called for the host to resign, while rumors began to swirl
that producers of the popular program wanted Sajak to 'take a step back'.
Laughing at or mocking someone's speech defect is not only disrespectful, but it's also entirely
unprofessional.
So, it's quite understandable why the public would be outraged at Sajak's behavior.
Unnamed sources told several tabloid outlets following the incident that producers of Wheel
of Fortune have long been frustrated with Pat's behavior.
As we already mentioned, this wasn't the first time that Sajak had mocked a contestant.
Insiders say that while he seems to be a kind, good-hearted person, in reality, he's a bit
of a jerk.
One gossip rag even went as far to say that Sajak's personality took a 180 after he had
intestinal surgery several months before the lisp incident.
It's alleged that while recovering from the procedure, Pat had something of a nervous
breakdown and that afterward, he seemed to be an entirely different person.
While this theory is admittedly quite flimsy, it is clear that Pat doesn't seem to be the
same guy we all know and love.
Something has changed, but what?
After the rumor mill started speculating that Pat Sajak was imminently going to be replaced
by Vanna White, his long-time assistant.
Other reports have claimed that White has long been frustrated with merely being 'eye
candy' and has been positioning herself to take over hosting duties for good.
That being said, the lisp incident happened more than a year ago at this point.
If Sajak really was going to be given the boot, you would think that the show's producers
would have done so by now – that is unless they are waiting for his contract to run out.
Currently, Sajak's contract extends through the 2024 season.
So, if they're really considering replacing him, they'll have to wait a bit to make that
move.
By then, most people will probably already have forgotten about the lisp incident.
After all, people's attention spans these days are notoriously short.
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Sajak's Recent 'Prize Puzzle' Flub
On March 3, 2022, Sajak, whose been hosting Wheel Of Fortune for 39 years now, made a
rookie mistake that has gotten everybody wondering if the 75-year-old is starting to show his
age.
He seemed to completely forget that a puzzle solved on that evening's episode was a prize
puzzle.
After the contestant successfully solved the puzzle by reading the words 'Dazzling Double
Rainbow', Sajak was supposed to have told her what prize she had just won.
Instead, he started introducing the triple toss-up round.
After making the blunder, you could distinctly hear the producers and staff of the show in
the background shouting out the words 'prize puzzle' to try to signal to Sajak that he
needed to announce the prize.
After the crew were able to get his attention, Sajak read off the prize before joking that
they would have to cut to a commercial break so he could take time to 'read the rules'
of the game show.
Fans of the show proceeded to dissect the incident on social media.
One fan made a post on Twitter questioning why they hadn't edited out the mistake, given
the fact that the show isn't broadcast live.
They also seemed puzzled why Sajak wasn't fitted with some sort of earpiece.
Having to shout to him audibly to get his attention seems rather unprofessional – especially
since the show has been on the air for so long.
"Another Feather In Your Cap"
This isn't the first time, however, that the ABC game show has shown up in the news in
2022.
In another recent episode, one of the puzzles thoroughly stumped all of the contestants
and has since gone viral.
After the contestants filled in most of the puzzle, the "Wheel" puzzle board read "Another
Feather -N yo-r -a-" (NOTE TO VIDEO EDITOR: Please show display this on the screen)
After a contestant spun the wheel and landed on 'bankrupt, other contestants tried to solve
the puzzle by guessing 'Another feather in your map' and 'Another feather in your lap'.
Finally, after about two minutes, one of the contestants finally was able to provide the
correct answer to the puzzle by guessing 'Another feather in your cap'.
After seeing all of the online controversy connected to the episode, Sajak defended the
contestants in a lengthy Twitter post.
In that post, Pat said that he felt pained by seeing the contestants face ridicule online.
He went on to say that solving the puzzle at home while sitting in the comfort of an
armchair is a lot easier than actually doing so while under pressure on network television.
Is Sajak's Nasty Behavior Related To Grief?
Pat Sajak and the late Jeopardy host Alex Trebek were close friends.
On March 6, 2019, Trebek shocked the world when he announced that he had been diagnosed
with Stage IV pancreatic cancer.
In the months leading up to his diagnosis, Trebek had been experiencing a persistent
stomach ache, but he hadn't realized that it was a symptom of the disease.
By the time he realized what he was dealing with, cancer had already advanced to the point
that there was little hope that he would be able to defeat it.
Regardless, he expressed that his intention was to aggressively fight cancer in the hopes
that he could beat the odds.
Trebek gave us an update on his situation later that May by saying that he had been
responding exceptionally well to his treatments and that the tumors had shrunk to half their
previously observed size.
By September, however, it had become clear that the immunotherapy and chemo treatments
that he had been receiving were ineffective.
Trebek's condition continued to deteriorate over the next year, although he retained his
hosting duties.
On July 16, 2020, Trebek gave us an update on his prognosis, stating that while he had
felt fatigued, his chemo was finally starting to look like it was 'paying off.
A few days later, he published a memoir entitled 'The Answer Is....Reflections of My Life'.
In October, he went under the knife to receive surgery related to his cancer treatment.
Two weeks later, he returned back to Jeopardy but had to split his usual five-episode taping
session over two days due to the pain that he was suffering from post-op.
These would be the last five episodes he would host.
Trebek died at his home in LA on November 8, 2020.
He was 80 years old when he passed away.
After Trebek's death, Pat Sajak was nothing short of devastated.
Some claimed that Sajak had been 'deeply rattled' by the death of his dear friend.
Others speculated that he had finally 'lost his marbles', due to the grief he was experiencing.
One insider noted that Alex's death left Sajak feeling depressed while forcing him to think
about his own mortality.
Instead of facing these troubling feelings head-on, this anonymous source believed that
Sajak had kept these morbid feelings 'bottled up' inside of him.
Perhaps it's these unaddressed feelings that have been causing Sajak to lash out at contestants.
Whether this is actually the case is a matter of some debate, but some in Pat's inner circle
feel that he needs to either retire or seek out therapy to address his inner turmoil.
Well, that about wraps up this video, but that means now it's your turn to let your
voice be heard.
Do you think that Pat Sajak should hang up his 'feathered cap' and retire from his hosting
duties of Wheel Of Fortune?
Or do you think the world has unfairly given him a hard time for a handful of relatively
innocuous mishaps?
Let us know in the comments.
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