Wheel of Fortune and Pat Sajak's Apparent Preference for Thin Attractive Women

I admit it. I am a Wheel of Fortune junky. I enjoy the puzzles, and watch the game show almost nightly. The host, Pat Sajak, has an amicable personality, and will be sorely missed whenever he should decide to retire. The always lovely Vanna White has a job that could be done by the simplest of computers. I do not think a computer would look as good modeling designer dresses, however.

For those who have never watched Wheel of Fortune, it is sort of like a game of hang man for money and prizes. Contestants spin a giant wheel that determines a dollar value or prize they will bank after guessing a correct letter in a word puzzle. The contestant who solves the puzzle correctly gets to keep all the money and prizes accumulated in his or her bank during the round. Over the course of a game, there are multiple puzzles. Three contestants, or sometimes three pairs of contestants, compete to solve puzzles and win cash and prizes. The contestant with the highest total amount of cash and prizes gets to play the bonus round for a large prize, usually cash, but sometimes a car. The bonus round is a short puzzle which must be solved in a few seconds. The contestant receives a few free letters, and gets to select a few more.

Alright, now that everyone is up to speed, I will share my observation. As previously discussed, puzzles are solved by contestants. After a puzzle is solved, Pat Sajak walks over to, and stands beside the winning contestant. Sometimes he puts his arm around the waist of a contestant, but not all contestants. First, he only does this to female contestants, as seems reasonable for a heterosexual male. I have noticed that he prefers to put his arm around thinner, more attractive female contestants. My wife has also noticed this trend, and it now makes us laugh every time we see it happen. I do not think Pat Sajak does this consciously. I think it is just the unconscious male attraction for beautiful women. This is just an interesting social observation, and nothing more.