Ryan Seacrest talks 'out of body' experience working with Vanna White on 'Wheel of Fortune'
Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White are excited and gearing up to work alongside each other on "Wheel of Fortune."
"I mean, it's 'Wheel of Fortune.' How could you not be happy?" Seacrest told ABC News' Ginger Zee in an interview that aired Tuesday on "Good Morning America."
White added, "It's energetic, it's positive, it's fun. I'm so excited."
In June 2023, it was announced that Seacrest would take over Pat Sajak's decades-long role as co-host of the iconic show. Seacrest begins his new role as the co-host of "Wheel of Fortune" this fall for the show's 42nd season.
Speaking with "GMA," Seacrest opened up about his experience working with White, who has been co-hosting the show with Sajak since 1982.
"I mean, it's out of body," he said. "It's out of body for me, you know, to have watched Vanna, and watched this show and Pat, and what they've built with audiences across this country. And what this show means to people in their living rooms every night, and their families, and generations of people who have watched this show, it is a very special thing that just doesn't exist anywhere else."
As part of his preparation to take the reins from Sajak, Seacrest said he has "watched endless episodes of Pat and Vanna on 'Wheel of Fortune.'"
"We have played mock 'Wheel of Fortune' games in many cities across America, depending on where I am, on conference tables, in meeting rooms," he shared. "We've had makeshift wheels and makeshift contestants for months, just to sort of get the gameplay down, and the time and the pacing down. And hopefully it all pays off."
In July, Seacrest shared a reel on Instagram from his first day on the "Wheel of Fortune" set, which was recorded earlier in the year.
In the clips, Seacrest can be seen spinning the wheel, arriving at the soundstage where the show is filmed and walking through the doors.
"My heart's pounding, I'm so excited," Seacrest says in the video. "I could not sleep last night, I was so excited."
"A glimpse of my first day at @wheeloffortune, and I'm still spinning with excitement!" Seacrest wrote at the time in the caption of the post.
Discussing the exciting moments captured in the video, Seacrest told "GMA" that he doesn't think he will ever get tired of them.
"I don't know if we'll ever settle in," he explained. "I get excited about it every time. I really do. I enjoy being the person who can introduce an audience to a singer, or who can play a new song on the radio, or can meet three people from around the country [and] help them win cash and prizes. That part never gets old."
Recalling a conversation he had with Sajak and White when he was first introduced to the show, Seacrest said the two told him "that the best part is you're gonna meet three new people every night, and they walk away with cash. I mean, that's what this show is about."
For their first official season together, White and Seacrest will be debuting a sleek new set.
"I don't even have to touch the letter anymore," White said. "This is a blank screen with a video on it, right? There's lasers up there. So, when I go to touch a letter, it catches the movement of my hand so it lights up. Isn't that crazy?"
She also showed Zee what it looks like behind the screen wall, which she said is where she is able to get her preview.
"I go back there to see my puzzles," she said. "They put my puzzles on a graph."
Seacrest has long been a familiar face in American households, hosting some of television's most beloved shows including "American Idol," the annual "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest" and "LIVE With Kelly and Ryan" from 2017 to spring 2023, alongside then-co-host Kelly Ripa.
Referring to the lessons he's learned from hosting the popular shows -- and stepping into others' shoes previously -- Seacrest said, "Don't make any changes. Don't touch it."
"This show works," he added. "All I need to do is keep it moving. All we need to do is have fun every night. And I think if that's what happens, this show continues for a long time."
White, who has been entertaining families at the famous "Wheel of Fortune" puzzle board for four decades, agreed with Seacrest's take.
"It hasn't changed," she said. "It's a family show that everyone of all ages watch and enjoy. And they still do. They wanna solve the puzzle."
She added, "You know, if you're walking by the TV and it's half-solved, you're gonna stop and say, 'All right, I gotta get this puzzle. Then I can do what I need to do.' You're just addicted."
Season 42 of "Wheel of Fortune" will premiere Sept. 9.
