Wheel of Fortune is an Australian television game show produced by Grundy Television until 2006, CBS Studios International in 2008, and Whisper North, in association with Sony Pictures Television and Paramount Global Content Distribution, in 2024. The program aired on the Seven Network from 1981 to 2004 and January to July 2006, aired at 5:00pm from 1981 to 1989 and from 2004 to 2006 and at 5:30pm from 1989 to 2003, and is mostly based on the same general format as the original American version of the program. It most recently aired in late 2024 on Network Ten with no updates on the future of the show since.
After Wheel of Fortune ended, the format was revived by the Nine Network in 2008 as Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune, until it was cancelled in June 2008 due to low ratings and following arguments from long-time host John Burgess concerning why he did not like the revamped format, which coincidentally was adopted in the United States later that year and has continued with the modified Australian format.
An earlier unrelated show also titled Wheel of Fortune had been broadcast on the Nine Network. That version had been developed by Reg Grundy as a radio game show before it transferred to television in 1959.
In 2010, hostess Adriana Xenides died after a long battle with illness; she had been listed in the Guinness World Records as the longest-serving hostess of a television game show until it was surpassed by her American counterpart, Vanna White in 2001.
The future of the show is in doubt because of current litigation between the production parties, Sony Pictures Television and Paramount Global (owners of Network Ten), in a United States court. This litigation is related to the agreement between the predecessor companies Merv Griffin Productions (now Sony) and King World Productions (now Paramount Global) in 1983 for Griffin's game shows that was agreed as an agreement in perpetuity. In April 2025, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that Network Ten (especially since its 2017 ownership by CBS, and later Paramount) had made a number of agreements in Australia and New Zealand for a longer period of time than permitted by the longstanding agreement.
History In 1981, the Grundy Organisation purchased the rights to Merv Griffin's American game show Wheel of Fortune and created a faithful reproduction of the American series, as it had done with many other game shows. The new show began airing on the Seven Network on 21 July 1981 at 5:00pm, and was produced at the studios of ADS-7 in Adelaide and hosted by Ernie Sigley. The show's production moved to SAS-7 when ADS and SAS swapped network affiliations and channel frequencies at the end of 1987.
In 1996, as part of an attempted major revamp, the program relocated from Adelaide to Seven flagship ATN-7 in Sydney. Along with a new set, new music, faster game format and modified rules, John Burgess was sacked from his twelve-year stint as host and replaced by Tony Barber. By the time that Burgess' final episode went to air it had become common knowledge that the show had relocated and that changes would occur. However, Burgess' final words referred only to the show's relocation, thus suggesting that he was at the time oblivious to his sacking.
The following Monday after Burgess' final episode, Barber began as host, despite much controversy. Beside the fact that viewers did not appreciate the fact that Burgess was sacked without a chance to say goodbye on air, viewers had difficulty accepting the new rules and faster pace. Additionally, Burgess had made media appearances saying how he had been badly treated and only found out about his sacking accidentally when a Grundy executive had to cancel a golf date with him because he was needed at the studios to continue work on the new format.
The ratings for the first two nights initially appeared promising, but plummeted badly afterwards. Some ratings were regained after Seven and Grundy reinstated as many of the old rules as possible after the first five weeks. It continued to regrow its audience, presumably due to public curiosity, when Adriana Xenides took sick leave in November 1996, but neither move was enough to return it to a credible ratings position.
A 5pm nationwide newscast that replaced Family Feud on 1 July also caused ratings problems for the program and the network. On 27 November 1996, the Seven Network issued a press release in which Barber announced his resignation from the show. In his 2001 memoir Who Am I, Barber later explained that he was removed from the position by the network and was offered future projects with the network in exchange for agreeing to the press release. The future projects, however, never eventuated. Burgess has claimed (also backed up by Barber in his memoir) on many occasions that he was reoffered the hosting job with a heavy pay raise and declined, but the Seven Network denied this story. Burgess was quickly given a contract by the opposing Nine Network to host the game show Catch Phrase (later retitled Burgo's Catch Phrase) that would be Wheel of Fortunes rival for a few more years.
Adriana Xenides, who had been the show's co-host since its premiere, fell sick — ultimately suffering from depression and what she called a "physical breakdown".
Barber appeared at the start of the 1997 series premiere to introduce and hand the show over to Rob Elliott with former Perfect Match hostess Kerrie Friend replacing Xenides for the next seven months.
On 18 June 2006, the Seven Network announced that it had ceased production of the program, with the last episode airing on 28 July, just one week after celebrating 25 years on Australian television. The final episode was filmed on 23 June at Channel 7's Epping studios. One of the contestants on the final episode was Edith Bliss, former field reporter for Simon Townsend's Wonder World, who won the game and effectively became the show's final, undefeated champion. From the Monday following the final episode, the network filled the timeslot with reruns of M.A.S.H. Following the finale, Seven also aired 20 unaired episodes from 2005 at the 10:00am timeslot. These were hosted by 2004 host Steve Oemcke, and produced before the show was rested in 2005.
Nine Network reboot and "Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune" format (2008) In May 2008, the Nine Network revived the show as Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune, hosted by former Home and Away actor Tim Campbell, with Kelly Landry as co-host. and airing from GTV-9 in Melbourne.
Despite an initial report stating that Burgess and Xenides disliked the show, Xenides gave positive feedback, stating that it was "refreshing" and she loved the "... very cool colours ... and the opportunity of winning a million dollars, that's excellent." She also stated that Burgess was "probably misrepresented."
Ratings for the new series were expected to top rival game show Deal or No Deal, broadcast on the Seven Network and to lead-in to the 6:00pm news. However, following a decline of the viewership ratings, the series was cancelled on 27 June 2008, after only five weeks on air. Despite being short-lived, the American version of the said series would later adopt this feature when the 26th season premiered three months later, with one gameplay change to the wedge itself where the wedge can be won in any of the first three rounds, instead of just the first round. The celebrity version featured the same rule, but the wedge can be won from the second or third round (or additional rounds in the second game), and there are four full-sized wedges (limit of one wedge can be earned; if the space is reached again, it is worth a specific value) instead of one third-sized wedge between two Bankrupts. Five contestants (four from the civilian version and one from the celebrity version) have won the jackpot, the last in 2025 in the civilian version (won by Christina Derevjanik) and 2021 in the celebrity version (won by Melissa Joan Hart). In the civilian version, the prize is a twenty-year annuity paid through prize indemnity insurance. In the celebrity version, Sony donates the million dollars to the player's charity.
Network 10 reboot (2024) It was announced in September 2023 that the format would be revived, hosted by Irish talk show host Graham Norton. This version was filmed in Manchester, England with Australian expatriate contestants, using facilities from a new British version of the format (also hosted by Norton). Filming commenced in November 2023 at the Dock10 studios. In October 2023, it was confirmed that Network 10, the in-house Australian broadcast network of format distributor Paramount International Networks, would helm the series, which eventually premiered more than a year later, on 25 November 2024 at 7.30pm. The season finale aired on 30 December 2024.
Gameplay 1981 to July 1996: Before the taping begins, the players draw numbers to determine their positions on stage. Play proceeds from left to right from the viewer's perspective: from the Red player to Yellow, then to Green, then back to Red. The Red player would have the first spin in round 1, the yellow player would have the first spin in round 2 and the green player would have the first spin in round 3. From 1999 to 2003, when the main game consisted of 4 puzzles, the red player would have the first spin in round 4. July 1996 to 1998: The host asks a trivia question and the contestant who buzzed in with the correct answer would have the first spin. During this time the red podium was reserved for the defending champion as there was an opportunity for any contestant to have the first spin. The process used during this period was a form of continuous play (For example, if the red player buzzed in to start round 1, but the yellow player solved the puzzle, then the blue player would have the first spin in round 2). 2004–2009: Upon conversion of the puzzle board from a set of 52 trilons to touchscreens in 2004, the show used a Flip-Up puzzle to determine control of the board to start the first and fourth round, and among which the player clockwise will begin the next round and so on (in order, red, yellow, blue and red). 2024–present: The gameplay follows the same format as the British version, adapted from the current format of the original American version with each game containing six standard puzzle rounds. The puzzle board is now a digital screen with no touchscreen functionality due to the absence of a co-host.
Categories The game uses a wide variety of categories for its puzzles. Some are generic, such as "Place" or "Thing". Puzzles frequently refer to popular culture or common items encountered in everyday life.Starting in 1994 'BEFORE AND AFTER' 'STAR AND TITLE' 'STAR AND ROLE' 'ARTIST(S) AND SONG'Starting in 1995 'BLANK' 'CLUE' 'SLANG' 'WHERE ARE WE?'Starting in 1999 'PEOPLE'
Other categories include BUILDING, LIVING THINGS, TRUE OR FALSE?, EVENT, and PHRASE.
The 2024 revival replaced the usual categories with puzzle clues. Some puzzles may become crossword puzzles, as in which the words are linked together and the contestant may solve it by saying all of the words in any order without repeating or adding anything.
Spinning the Wheel
The wheel has 96pegs with 24spaces that are each four pegs wide. These spaces represent values (in multiples of 5 instead of 50), including one silver-coloured "Top Dollar" wedge, prizes and penalty spaces, and three strategic elements for use in the game. The 2024 revival is the similar to that of the 2024 revival version of the British version.