“Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak and his family continue to mourn the loss of their beloved family pup, Stella. Sajak announced the death of the 12-year-old dog on the June 8 episode of the long-time game show.
“You and I have a lot in common,” Sajak said to “Wheel of Fortune” co-host Vanna White at the end of the show. “We both have two kids, we both have the same unusual blood type. But the weirdest of all is, we independently, without either one knowing it, named our pets the same name. Your cat is named Stella, and we had a dog named Stella for 12 years. And I used the past tense because we recently had to say goodbye to Stella. It was a very sad time for the Sajak family. … We’re gonna miss her, she was a good friend.”
Today, Sajak’s daughter Maggie took to Instagram to post a heartbreaking tribute to her loving pet. Instagram Memories reminded Maggie that one year ago today, she posted an adorable picture of Stella in the backseat of her car. Stella’s two front paws hang off the seat in the cutest way, and the original caption on the Instagram Story reads, “sweetest lil backseat driver… those paws!”
Sajak reposted the image today with another caption saying, “oh how I miss this girl with my whole entire heart.”
The “Wheel of Fortune” host’s daughter now has a whole section of her Instagram Stories dedicated to the dear pup. The Memories go as far back as a year and a half ago, with a sweet photo of Stella’s nose and face resting on some blankets as she cuddles with Maggie. She’s added two Memories to the Story since Stella passed away, both talking about how much Maggie misses her.
“Missing my bunny so much!” one reads, with a picture of Stella in a super cute bunny ear headband.
Another black and white photo shows Stella and Maggie walking in a park. Maggie captioned it, “Missing my Stella girl so much.”
The family dog is also Maggie’s Twitter header photo.
Stella’s ‘Wheel of Fortune’ Tribute
When Pat Sajak announced Stella’s passing on the June 8 episode, he also showed a heartwarming slideshow of old family photos. The host’s family might have been saddened by her loss, “But we wanted to salute Stella by showing her happier days,” Sajak said at the end of the episode.
One of the photos includes an adorable snapshot of Sajak himself playing in the snow with the mischievous pup. He stands behind a fake Dalmatian sitting in the snow, with Stella seeming to shoot towards the two of them.
