Sajak, White were drunk during Wheel of Fortune

Host says they sometimes got tipsy in early years

Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak has said in a broadcast interview that he and fellow host Vanna White were drunk when they taped some early episodes of the show, but that he is too old for that now.

Sajak, 65, made the revelation in an appearance this week on cable network ESPN2’S show Dan Le

Batard is Highly Questionable. “When I first started and was much younger and could tolerate those things, we had a different show then,” Sajak said.

Sajak explained that during the production of those Wheel of Fortune shows, he and co-host Vanna White would take 2-1/2-hour breaks while prizes were loaded onto the set in Burbank, Calif. So, they would go to

Vanna and I would … have trouble recognizing the alphabet.

Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak

a nearby restaurant and have “great margaritas,” he said.

“Vanna and I would go across and have two or three or six (margaritas), and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet,” Sajak said.

Sajak further explained he no longer mixes alcohol and his hosting duties. “Now, if I were to inhale the cork and a bottle of wine I would probably keel over. I’m getting a little older for this,” he said. Sajak and White have hosted Wheel

of Fortune since 1983.