How did Pat Sajak's final season on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune perform? Details explored

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune concluded season 5 on June 10, 2025, marking longtime host Pat Sajak's final time on the game show. Pat joined co-host Vanna White for one final run after previously retiring from hosting the main series, Wheel of Fortune, at the end of season 41. Despite the significance of season 5 of the spin-off, the ratings showed a drop compared to the previous season.

In season 5, viewers saw a diverse lineup of celebrities, such as Rainn Wilson, Ellie Kemper, and Oscar Nuñez from The Office, Josh Gad, Justin Long, and Rachel Harris from New Girl, and Sam Richardson, Randall Park, and Matt Walsh from Veep, among many others, play the game. However, even then, the ratings remained stagnant, garnering a lower viewership than last season.

TV Series Finale published the Nielsen Ratings for every episode of season 5, including a detailed breakdown of viewership counts and demographic changes for each episode. The ratings showed a drop in viewership in several segments, drawing three million viewers in only three of the ten episodes that aired.

Moreover, the finale was the least-watched episode of season 5 of the game show. While various factors could be considered for the poor performance, netizens pointed to the delay in the season 5 premiere due to ABC prioritizing Monday Night Football during the 2024 season.

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More details on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune season 5 ratings

Season 5 of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune consisted of 10 episodes, including a holiday special that aired in December 2024, featuring Chance the Rapper, Dionne Warwick, and Lil Jon as contestants. However, the special segment was not the most-watched episode of the season. The May 28 episode, or episode eight, drew the highest numbers in terms of ratings.

It was two episodes before the finale, and garnered 3.205 million viewers, which meant that there was a 20% increase from the previous week, which saw 2.657 million viewers tuning in to watch the game show.

In total, there were only three episodes in season 5 that could hit the three-million mark in viewership. They were episodes one, two, and eight. The rest averaged between 2.294 and 2.713 million viewers. The finale of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune was the least-watched, with only 2.294 million viewers.

Compared to season 4, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune saw a significant drop in ratings. The lowest-watched episode of season 4 brought 2.547 million viewers, which was still higher when compared to season 5's lowest-watched segment.

The highest-rated episode garnered 3.878 million viewers, which was also significantly better than the best-performing episode of season 5. However, the final two episodes finished with underwhelming numbers, as they failed to outperform the finales of other reality shows airing during that time.

On average, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune season 4 brought 3.58 million viewers, whereas season 5 brought 3.24 million. The dip in ratings was surprising to many, considering it was longtime host Pat Sajak's final season on the franchise.

However, despite the drop, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune was renewed for season 6, featuring American Idol host Ryan Seacrest stepping into the shoes of Pat alongside Vanna. Ryan previously took over the hosting duties of the syndicated version of the game show after Pat announced his retirement.

Season 6 will also air on Friday nights instead of Wednesdays, and stream the following day on Hulu.

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Celebrity Wheel of Fortune season 5 episodes are available to stream on Hulu.

Edited by Raina Saha