Photo:Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty
Eric McCandless/ABC via Getty
Ryan Seacrestis getting his game face on for hisWheel of Fortunehosting debut.
“I’m sure I will get nervous jitters,” Seacrest, 48, told PEOPLE. “The show has been a staple for people and myself and my family forever. And so you just want to walk out there and do what’s been happening for so many years and not screw it up.”
He also admitted that one of the game show’s most foundational elements is surprisingly something of an Achilles heel for him.
“Actually, I’m a terrible speller,” he admitted (on the other hand, his mother “thinks she’s a great speller,” he quips).
Seacrest qualifies, “But, on the show I’m better than on my cell phone when I type or text.”
Luckily he’ll be able to haveWheel of FortuneveteranVanna Whitethere to support him with the letters, as she reached a deal with the show toextend her contractfor two additional years.
“Vanna has been such a staple on that show and in our living rooms for so many years. I have been very excited to work with her, but now that it’s official I can say, ‘Congratulations Vanna! I can’t wait,'” he said onSunday Today withWillie Geist.
Seacrest shared that he’s in “unofficial prep” right now for hisWheel of Fortunedebut and has even started to watch it “differently” now that he knows he’s going to take the reins after Sajak’sretirementat the end of season 41.
“I can’t believe that it’s going to be real. But I’m super excited,” Seacrest told PEOPLE. “I don’t remember when I felt this much excitement and enthusiasm for something.”
Northwell Health Studios/Ryan Seacrest Foundation
“I just wanted to do something tangible,” Seacrest told PEOPLE of the project. “I wanted to see and feel and touch something that I was behind and a part of, and I’ve spent a lot of time at these kinds of studios. I know every time I’m inside one, I forget about everything that’s going on in my life and that’s the idea and hope here.”
The new, state-of-the-art studio will allow programming from celebrity guests educational content, live music, patient-created shows, music therapy and more to be broadcasted on-air throughout children patient rooms in the hospital, with the hope that the pediatric patients can participate or tune in.
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The ultimate goal, said Seacrest, is to connect all the Seacrest Studios in children’s hospitals across the U.S. so that all children can interact with content from different places.
“A couple weeks ago,Ed Sheeranwas in Colorado. We can have all the studios watch and ask questions and be a part of that event. So after we continue to build what 13, 14, 15 [Seacrest Studios], we want to make event programming come together,” he said.
The next Seacrest Studios is set to pop up at a children’s hospital in Salt Lake City.
source: people.com
