"If I wouldn't have left 'Wheel of Fortune,' I'd be making about $10 million a year now," Woolery recalled in a 2003 interview.

However, Pat Sajak was ultimately given the hosting role following Woolery's departure in 1981 over a contract dispute. Woolery later acknowledged that he would have been earning a higher salary if he hadn’t left the game show, as reported by Parade.

Chuck Woolery, by any measure one of the most successful game show hosts in history, passed away this weekend. The 83-year-old star is probably best remembered as the first host of Wheel Of Fortune, though he also guided a ton of other shows to sustained success including Love Connection and Scrabble, both of which ran for around a decade.