Ryan Seacrest’s star power spins Celebrity Wheel of Fortune to its strongest debut ratings in two years

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune returned with its season 6 with a bang, as the new co-host, Ryan Seacrest, replacing the long-term host Pat Sajak, garnered the highest ratings of the premiere episode in two years.

The new season premiered with a different schedule on Friday, September 26, 2025, on ABC Network, as season 5 aired every Wednesday, unlike this season, which airs every Friday at 8:00 pm ET.

Co-hosting with Vanna White, Ryan Seacrest pulled the largest audience for the Friday premiere of the show in nearly two years, at an average of 3.55 million viewers.

Furthermore, it achieved a 0.31 rating among adults 18-49 according to Nielsen’s live+same day big data plus panel.

The viewership has increased by 17% from the last season's premiere, which received an audience of 3.04 million, hosted by Pat Sajak, who finally retired in 2024 after spending four decades on the franchise.

Ryan Seacrest officially joined Wheel of Fortune in September 2024 for its 42nd season. 

He has now debuted in its celebrity version spinoff, locking his association with the ABC franchise, becoming its long-term representative.

Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White hosted the DWTS cast in the premiere episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune season 6

Celebrity Wheel of Fortune season 6 premiere featured ABC's Dancing with the Stars cast members, including dancer and choreographer Jenna Johnson Chmerkovskiy, TV host, judge, and choreographer Derek Hough, and TV personality and judge Bruno Tonioli.

The episode was the No. 1 program of the night in broadcast, scoring the best viewership audience since Dec. 13, 2023.

It was also the best-performing show in terms of all the shows aired on the Friday 8:00 pm broadcast slot on ABC since an episode of Jeopardy Masters in May 2024.

The premiere also gave a tough competition to CBS's popular show Big Brother, which received 1.95 million viewership as compared to the 3.55 million of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, beating it by 82% in total viewers.

Wheel of Fortune has been a lucky move for Ryan Seacrest. According to distributor CBS Media Ventures, the game show increased in household ratings as well as total viewers during the 2024–2025 TV season.

On average, it drew 7.93 million viewers, about 74,000 more than the previous year. It also increased by 1% scoring a 4.6 household rating compared to season 5 in 2024.

Singer and actor Joey McIntyre, along with author and actor Retta and Oliver Hudson, will feature in the second episode of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune on October 3, 2025.

Also joining this season are The Hunting Wives celebrities, including actor and producer Malin Akerman, actor Katie Lowes, and Jaime Ray Newman.

Other guests from the sports industry include WNBA champion Candace Parker, NBA Hall of Famer Dwight Howard, and sportscaster and radio host Rich Eisen. 

Multiplatinum artist and author Big Sean, rapper 2 Chainz, and GRAMMY award-winning artist Tori Kelly will also be joining the Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, representing the music industry.

All these celebrities play and spin the world's most famous wheel and solve word puzzles for a chance to win up to $1 million prize, which goes to the charity of their choice.

New episodes of Celebrity Wheel of Fortune air every Friday on ABC and are available to stream the next day on Hulu and Hulu On Disney+.

Stay tuned for more updates.