Ryan Seacrest on Vanna White and Pat Sajak’s Advice

When “Wheel of Fortune” began filming this summer, it marked the first time in 40 seasons that the announcer’s proclamation “Ladies and gentlemen, here are the stars of our show …” wasn’t followed by the names Pat Sajak and Vanna White. Instead, Ryan Seacrest waited backstage, standing arm in arm with White as they prepared for the doors to the new LED wall to open, so they could saunter through and spin the wheel.

“We have the same doors at ‘American Idol’ — and the same door operator,” Seacrest says when asked what was going through his head. “So you literally look like you’re behind the same set, because the backside is just screens and plugs.”

Of course, Seacrest is a veteran radio and TV host, and he’s stepped into the shoes of broadcasting legends like Casey Kasem, Dick Clark and Regis Philbin, emceeing everything from New Year’s Eve telecasts to morning shows. But on that first day of filming “Wheel,” he was anxious. He wanted to deliver for the studio audience and the Wheel Watchers at home.

“It was about wanting it to be received in a way that made sense to people and was natural,” Seacrest says.

Having White, a friend of 20 years, by his side helped — though she was nervous for him too. “Because he has a hard job,” White says. “He rehearsed and rehearsed and rehearsed and put everything into it so he would do a good job. And he’s accomplished that.”

Suzanne Prete, president of game shows at Sony Pictures Television, was waiting on the other side of those doors with her iPhone ready to film the action for her boss, Sony Pictures Entertainment president and COO Ravi Ahuja, who was out of the country on the big day.

“Everybody has worked so hard to get to that moment,” Prete recalls. “The excitement builds and it’s palpable.” Before pressing send, she checked the tape. “You could hear me sniffling. It was emotional,” Prete adds. “It was a once-in-a-career kind of event to have Ryan Seacrest come fill the very big shoes of Pat Sajak, and have it be so seamless, and have him be so good. I pinch myself.”

The stakes were high for everyone. When Sajak announced last June that he’d decided to retire, Seacrest was Sony Pictures Television executives’ “No. 1 choice” to take over. Seacrest had just left “Live With Kelly and Ryan,” freeing up space in his jam-packed schedule. And because Sajak still had a final season to shoot, he had a year to prep.

“It’s very full circle and significant to me,” Seacrest says of being tapped to host “Wheel.” In the ’90s, the show’s creator, Merv Griffin, hired him to host “Click,” a teen game show. Back then, Seacrest would pick Griffin’s brain over lunch at the Beverly Hilton pool. One day, the topic of “Wheel” came up, and the TV magnate explained what made the show so special.

“He told me that it’s something that could last forever, because it’s a simple show that people love to play along with. You can have a busy, stressful, hectic day, and sit down and take your mind off everything else. He said that’s the key ingredient,” Seacrest recalls. “Not at one point during that conversation did I ever think I’d have the opportunity to host.”

Ever the dedicated student, Seacrest went through “Wheel’s” more than 8,000-episode archive, watching hundreds of shows and cherry-picking moments from each decade to learn the nuances of the game. Executive producer Bellamie Blackstone also built a miniature version of the wheel (about the size of an SUV tire), and they practiced in conference rooms around the country while Seacrest traveled for work.

“They brought a computer with a screen that had the board and all the sound effects, so I could get a feel for it,” he says. The full-size wheel is harder to operate than it looks. “It’s heavy. I almost fell over trying to spin it.”

Seacrest also visited the set to watch Sajak and White at work. There, he observed the well-oiled machine that is “Wheel.” The crew shoots six episodes per day with only the time it takes for the hosts to change their wardrobe and to welcome a new trio of contestants in between.

“Wow, they don’t miss a beat. I don’t want to slow them down,” Seacrest thought. “It’s hard to come into a brand-new show where things are slow and you’re putting it together and trying to figure it out,” he explains. “If it’s not live, which I really love, then this is the kind of tape show you want because there’s no kinks that haven’t been worked out.”

That was one of a couple times Seacrest got to pick Sajak’s brain for advice before the handoff. Sajak kept it simple: “Vanna’s the greatest to work with. It’s the best show on TV. You’re just going to be moving people along through a game as they win money. There’s not too much to think about.” (White’s advice was similarly straightforward: “Be yourself and have fun.”)

Seacrest had been bullish on White’s continued involvement with “Wheel.” They first met at Griffin’s 2007 funeral, where they were seated next to each other, then developed a casual friendship in the years since. When Seacrest began conversations about joining the show, White was engaging in her own contract negotiations.

“As a producer and as the host, I didn’t want to do it with anyone other than Vanna. It was critical for me to have her on the show as long as she wants to be,” Seacrest says. “And certainly for the launch — to have two different people would be too much change at once. I made it very clear that that would be a mistake if they didn’t have her on board.”

(White ultimately extended her contract through the 2025-2026 season. “I was not ready to retire. I have at least two more years with the show and we’ll see from there,” she tells Variety.)

Seacrest certainly seemed to have mastered his wheel work by mid-August, when Variety visited the set as he and White filmed episodes that will air during Veterans Day week. The Sony soundstage was decked out with an American Flag motif on the LED wall and panels on the sides of the wheel and on the floor below it. It’s all part of the Art Deco-inspired redesign — a throwback to the early years of “Wheel.”

“By the time Ryan walked on that set, he was so prepared that he could just do what he does best and connect to those contestants in a very authentic way,” says Prete. “He’s really fun. He over-delivered in that aspect. It’s just a whole new energy.”

Seacrest has calibrated the right levels of exuberance when contestants land on the million-dollar wedge and dismay when, on the next spin, they go bankrupt, so that it all ebbs and flows effortlessly. It’s remarkable how much energy he seems to have. (It was tiring sitting through a half-day of taping, let alone hosting round after round. Clapping for “big money” for two hours takes a lot out of you.)

“We’ll — wheel — be right back,” Seacrest says, grinning as he makes a silly pun to toss to a commercial break. He looks like he’s having the time of his life.

The “Wheel” team is leaning in too. In a time when linear TV ratings are declining, there’s pressure to maintain the syndicated game show’s strong nightly averages (more than 20 million viewers tune in each week). So, as the team developed promotional materials for the new season, they realized that “RSTLNE,” the group of letters given to contestants to start the bonus round, would make an apt acronym: “Ryan Seacrest to launch new era.” Then, on Friday night, Seacrest and White illuminated the famed ferris wheel on the Santa Monica Pier with an interactive display of laser projectors that transformed the landmark into the iconic spinning wheel.

“I thought, ‘That’s a really clever and memorable way that is organic to the show,’” Seacrest says of the promo. “And I hope that it’s a long era. I’ve signed on to do many, many years of this show.” How many? “As many as you can get.”

Season 42 of “Wheel of Fortune” begins airing Sept. 9. It is distributed domestically by CBS Media Ventures and internationally by Paramount Global Content Distribution, both divisions of Paramount.