Jared Leto Replaces Pat Sajak as ‘Wheel of Fortune Host’ for April Fool’s Day

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Wheel of Fortune fans got a big surprise when they tuned in for the game show on Monday, April 1. While Pat Sajak has announced that he’s retiring after the current season of Wheel, he was shockingly missing at the beginning of the episode on April Fool’s Day. Even though Vanna White was still there, the announcer revealed that a surprising guest host was filling in for the holiday. “Ladies and gentlemen, here are the stars of our show: Jared Leto and Vanna White!” he said at the top of the show.

As the show began, Jared walked out arm-in-arm with Vanna, similar to how Pat does. The two of them acted like it was business as usual, as the 30 Seconds to Mars frontman filled in for the usual host. He sported a black suit, which perfectly corresponded with Vanna’s long-sleeve black dress.

After walking out to center stage, Jared wished his co-host well before going off to greet the contestants. “Thank you and have a great show. See you soon,” he said. “Alright everybody, grab those devices. It’s time to give away some money.”

After a little bit, Pat returned to host and it was business as usual, according to People. No one mentioned the surprise appearance by Jared, but he did ask fans to critique his performance on his Instagram Story. “How’d I do?” he wrote with a laughing crying emoji, while sharing the clip.

Pat has announced that he will retire from hosting Wheel of Fortune after the current season comes to an end, but it won’t be the Dallas Buyers Club star taking his place. Rather Ryan Seacrest will take over hosting duties. Vanna will remain as co-host. 

The Wheel of Fortune team are no strangers to the occasional April Fool’s Day prank with perhaps the most famous one coming in 1997. That year, Pat swapped places with fellow iconic game show host Alex Trebek. While Alex stepped up to host Wheel, Pat took the lead on Jeopardy. “Welcome to our special, Tuesday, April 1 edition of Wheel of Fortune. I’ll leave you to figure out why I am here today,” Alex said at the top of the episode, per Newsweek.