Pat Sajak previously announced his intention to retire as Wheel of Fortune host. Granted, this will not happen until the end of the current (forty-first) season when he will be replaced by self-professed “terrible speller” Ryan Seacrest. Yet on April 1, the most unholy day of the year, the show took a trial run on proceeding without Sajak, or at least, they pretended to do so. A most random “surprise host” joined the show, and yes, “random” is the key word here.
On Monday night, out popped Jared Leto in a suit with his rock-star hair like it was no big thing. Yes, Pat did swiftly return to the scene, so that we were spared actual Morbius-themed hosting duties, but even though Vanna White and the evening’s contestants played along for a few moments, this was enough to make the world know what it will be like to miss Pat Sajak.
For his part, Leto seemed perfectly game to don the customary game-show host attire and didn’t show a trace of nerves — perhaps he was fresh out of another transformative silent meditation retreat — but we didn’t see him strut that stuff for too long. Once relieved of his temporary hosting duties, Leto took to his Instagram story to toss out a joking emoji and ask, “How’d I do?”
As far as April Fool’s Day jokes go, this certainly wasn’t the worst that the world has ever seen. Still, it was no match for what Michael Che did to Colin Jost in 2023. Man, that was brutal.