Who is Sherrill Sajak?

Born in 1945, in the United States of America, Sherrill Sajak is best known as the former wife of television personality Pat Sajak. Her ex-husband rose to fame as a host of the game show ‘Wheel of Fortune’, a role he has held since 1981.

Sherrill Sajak’s net worth

As of early 2020, Sherrill Sajak’s net worth is estimated to be over $2 million, earned through success in her various endeavors. While the details of her profession are unknown, she likely benefited from her husband’s success and their divorce settlement – he has an estimated net worth of over $65 million from his successful television career.

Early life, relationship and divorce

While there are no details about Sherrill’s life before she met Pat, it is known that the two met during the early stage of his career when he was working in radio. At the time, he was relatively unknown and had made only a few television appearances for his work as a radio host. They married three years before he had his breakthrough as the host of “Wheel of Fortune”.

They have no children and the couple rarely spoke about each other in public. They stayed together for seven years before finally divorcing; the reason for their divorce was never publicly disclosed, with neither of them commenting on it later.

The common belief is that their marriage began to crumble after he became famous, with all his time at work and the pressure to maintain his public life taking a toll on their relationship. After the divorce, Sherrill remained in obscurity, while her former husband remarried to a photographer three years later.

Husband – Pat Sajak

Pat rarely got to know his father, who died when he was young. His father worked in a factory that had many dangers to the detriment of his health and well-being. After his death, Pat’s mother remarried and his stepfather supported his education.

He attended Farragut High School and, after graduating from college, enrolled at Columbia College Chicago. During his time there, he had to take an extra job to support himself and worked at the Palmer house hotel as a desk clerk.

His first broadcasting experience came during the Vietnam War when he was enlisted to serve. He did not become an active duty soldier, but instead worked as one disc jockey (DJ) for the American Forces Vietnam Network, hosted the show “Dawn Buster”, which was popularized by Adrian Cronauer, and continued the show’s tradition for over a year.

When he returned to further his education, he sought more work in radio, became a journalist for a local station and also worked as a DJ. In the early 1970s, he worked for a radio station in Murray, Kentucky, for about a year before moving to Nashville to work as a DJ. There he gained his first television experience at WSMV, for which he first started working as a voice-over artist.

Career Breakthrough – Pat Sajak

Pat slowly transitioned from his voice role to a more on-camera presence, often doing five-minute newscasts for the “Today Show” program.

He also served as a deputy weatherman, which later led to him working full-time as a weather reporter for Los Angeles-based NBC. He befriended many high profile media personalities during this period and in 1981 was approached by Merv Griffin who asked him to take over the hosting of “Wheel of Fortune”.

After some executive trouble, he was eventually placed in the position, presenting both the daytime and evening versions of the show. He held the position throughout the 1980s and quickly rose to fame. He has since held the position for 37 consecutive seasons, making him the longest-serving game show host in history.

Because of this, he became a pop culture icon and was even offered cameo appearances in feature films. He has appeared as a contestant on other game shows several times – some of his projects during this period include “Dream House” and “Super Password”.

Later career

In 1990, Sajak tried to work as one late night talk show, host, but it didn’t work out, causing the project to be canceled prematurely. Instead, he became a frequent collaborator and guest on “Larry King Live”, even substituting for the host when he was unavailable. He was also a replacement for Regis Philbin in “Live with Regis and Kelly”.

In 1997, as part of an April Fool’s Day episode, he became a contestant on “Wheel of Fortune” along with fellow television personality Vanna White.

In 2001, he made a cameo appearance on the sitcom “The King of Queens”, in a fictionalized portrayal of himself. He is also very active in the writing world, working with conservative publications such as “Human Events”, as well as a regular contributor to the “National Review Online”. Not only did his love of games extend into television, but he has also written several puzzle games, Lucky Letters being the most popular.

His contract with “Wheel of Fortune” runs until 2022 – Guinness has already honored him with the world record for longest career as a game show host for the same show.

Private life

After Sherrill’s marriage to Pat, it is not known whether she remarried or had children. Pat, on the other hand, married Lesly Brown Sajak, and he has two children from the marriage. One of his children turned one country artist. Her former husband is a member of the Church of Christ, although it is unknown if she shares the same faith. It is also not known if she is conservative when it comes to her political beliefs.