Pat Sajak's Daughter Maggie Sajak Makes Red Carpet Debut With Boyfriend Jackson Olson at the Kids' Choice Awards
(Illustration: USA Current Affaires)
Seven months after they went public with their romance, Maggie Sajak and Jackson Olson have taken the next step — together, on the red carpet. The daughter of Wheel of Fortune legend Pat Sajak and the Savannah Bananas star made their red carpet debut as a couple at the 2026 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards on Saturday night, posing side by side at Television City Studios in Los Angeles.
Olson, who was at the ceremony as a presenter, stepped out in a pastel blue blazer with off-white trousers and sneakers. Sajak, who works on Wheel of Fortune alongside her father, wore what appeared to be an Alice + Olivia Fifi Sequin Midi dress with metallic silver strappy heels and silver hoop earrings — a look made for the slime-filled chaos of the Kids' Choice Awards, where the orange carpet is every bit as famous as the show itself.
It was a big night for the couple, and a fitting stage for their debut. The Kids' Choice Awards, hosted this year by singer Alex Warren and broadcast on CBS and Nickelodeon, is one of the loudest nights on the entertainment calendar — and for a pair whose relationship began in the most modern way possible, it was a very public way to say they are serious.
From Instagram to the Orange Carpet
Sajak and Olson's story started online. They began following each other on Instagram in September 2025 and met in person for the first time the following month, at a Dodgers playoff game. By April 2026, they were ready to go public, hard-launching the relationship with a photograph of the pair together in front of Cinderella's Castle at Disney World, captioned simply: "Applications closed."
The joke was a nod to Olson's own playful history: before the relationship, the 28-year-old second baseman had posted a tongue-in-cheek "boyfriend application" on social media, joking about looking for a girlfriend. Sajak, 31, clearly liked what she saw. Since the Disney reveal, she has been one of his biggest cheerleaders, turning up in person to support him through his run on Dancing with the Stars.
That run made Olson a breakout star in his own right. Announced as a contestant on season 35 of the dance competition in May 2026, he danced with professional partner Emma Slater, surviving week after week before being eliminated in the October 27 episode, tying for ninth place with Tyler Cameron. Sajak was in the audience for the premiere, posting on her Instagram Story before the show and sharing a photo with Olson afterwards.
A Night to Remember — Slime Included
Saturday's debut was not Olson's only moment in the spotlight. During the ceremony, he was also pulled into one of the show's most famous traditions, getting slimed on stage alongside singer-songwriter Stella Lefty in a segment that had the audience roaring. The pair took it in good spirits, posing for a fun backstage photograph shortly afterwards, green slime and all.
For Sajak, the evening was a reminder of how far her own profile has grown beyond her famous surname. Born in 1995, more than a decade after her father began hosting Wheel of Fortune in 1981, she has built her own career on the show, making her hosting debut on May 10, 2023, when she stepped in for Vanna White. She has also released her own music, carving out a career that is entirely her own.
The Kids' Choice Awards were full of big moments this year — see the full list of 2026 winners here on USA Current Affaires — but for Sajak and Olson, the night was about something simpler: showing up together, in front of the cameras, as a couple. After a year that took them from Instagram follows to a Dodgers game, from Disney World to the dance floor, the orange carpet felt like the natural next step.
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