When you think of Pat Sajak, the legendary Wheel of Fortune host, you probably picture his decades-long career spinning that iconic wheel. But before his 35-year marriage to Lesly Brown, there was another Mrs Sajak who managed to do something almost impossible in today’s celebrity-obsessed world: she completely disappeared from public view.
Sherrill Sajak, Pat’s first wife, is one of the most successful privacy campaigns in entertainment history. For nearly 40 years, she’s maintained total silence about her marriage to one of America’s most recognisable television personalities. Here’s what we actually know about her.
Biography
Sherrill was born around 1945, though her exact birth date and birthplace remain undocumented. Unlike most celebrity spouses, she never granted interviews or shared biographical details with the media. Her privacy preference didn’t start after her divorce; it seems to have been a part of her nature all along.
Details about her early life, family background, and education are essentially nonexistent. Public records from her marriage years provide the only authentic glimpses into her background, and even those are sparse. She came from a previous relationship that produced a son, but beyond that, her life before Pat remains largely unknown.
Meeting Pat Sajak
Sherrill and Pat’s paths crossed sometime in the late 1970s, though the exact circumstances are unclear. Many sources claim they met in Nashville in 1978, but Pat had actually moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to work at KNBC-TV. What we do know is that they met before Pat achieved national fame, when he was still working as a local weatherman and testing for various game show positions.
Their relationship developed quickly during this pre-celebrity period. This timing meant Sherrill knew Pat as a regular guy trying to make it in television, not as the household name he’d become. They married in 1979 in a private ceremony attended by close friends and family, and the wedding took place two years before Pat’s life-changing opportunity with Wheel of Fortune.
Marriage and Life During Fame
The first couple of years of their marriage were relatively normal. Pat was still building his career, and they lived modestly while he pursued opportunities in television. Then everything changed in 1981 when Pat was selected to host Wheel of Fortune.
The show’s rapid success brought immediate national recognition and media attention. Pat’s work schedule became demanding, with taping sessions and promotional events filling his calendar.
Despite being married to an increasingly famous television host, she managed to maintain relative privacy. She rarely accompanied Pat to public events and avoided cameras during his early years on Wheel of Fortune.
This wasn’t easy. The couple lived in a 2,600-square-foot Craftsman house built in 1911 in Glendale, California. It was a beautiful home with a master bedroom featuring a balcony, three additional bedrooms, three bathrooms, and a detached garage on a double-lot property. The house provided the privacy Sherrill preferred, but the growing pressures of Pat’s celebrity life were creating strain.
Mason Sajak
One of the few confirmed aspects of Sherrill’s private life involves her son, Mason. Born around 1967 or 1968 from a previous relationship, Mason was approximately 11 or 12 years old when Sherrill married Pat. According to a 1985 news report, Pat adopted Mason after the marriage, becoming his stepfather and giving Mason the Sajak surname.
Mason would have been about 19 when his mother and stepfather divorced in 1986. Interestingly, Mason has maintained the same extraordinary level of privacy as his mother. Now in his late 50s, he has no social media presence, no public career information, and no documented activities. Like mother, like son, it seems.
The 1986 Divorce
After seven years of marriage, Sherrill and Pat divorced in 1986. The split was handled quietly through attorneys, and neither party has ever made public statements about what went wrong. Court records from the proceedings remain among the few official documents containing Sherrill’s name.
It’s tempting to speculate about the reasons. Some have suggested that Sherrill’s desire for complete privacy fundamentally conflicted with Pat’s growing public profile. Others point to the demanding schedule of a game show host, creating distance between them. The couple had no biological children together, which some claimed contributed to the marriage’s dissolution. Both Pat and Sherrill have maintained complete silence about their relationship for nearly 40 years.
Property records suggest Sherrill received the Glendale home in the divorce settlement, as only her name appeared on the deed afterwards. She held onto the property for 24 years before selling it in November 2010 for $425,000.
Pat’s Life After Sherrill
Pat didn’t stay single for long. On December 31, 1989, three years after divorcing Sherrill, he married photographer Lesly Brown. Their marriage proved more compatible with his celebrity lifestyle, as Lesly was comfortable with public attention. They had two children: Patrick Michael James Sajak (born 1990) and Maggie Marie Sajak (born 1995).
Patrick became a doctor, while Maggie pursued a career in country music and even served as a social correspondent for Wheel of Fortune.
Pat continued hosting Wheel of Fortune in syndication for 41 years, becoming the longest-serving game show host and surpassing Bob Barker’s record. He announced his retirement on June 12, 2023, and his final episode aired on June 7, 2024. Ryan Seacrest now hosts the show. Pat’s estimated net worth stands at approximately $75 million.