You may have suspected it, but now it’s fact: Pat Sajak used to host “Wheel of Fortune” while drunk.

Genial game show host Sajak (who also moonlights as a conservative columnist) appeared on the ESPN2 talk show “Dan LeBatard Is Highly Questionable” on Tuesday and answered that burning question.

“Yes,” Sajak said. “When I first started and was much younger and could tolerate those things. We had a different show then.”

He went on to explain that the show was much more reliant on “cheesy prizes,” which required long set-up times between shows, allowing Sajak and his “Wheel” cohort, Vanna White, to take two-hour dinner breaks.

“At NBC in Burbank we had a place called Los Arcos across the street –which is Spanish, as you know, for ‘The Arcos’ — and they served great margaritas,” he said. “Vanna and I would go across and have two or three or six and then come and do the last shows and have trouble recognizing the alphabet.”

Exactly how many margaritas did Sajak down before doing the show? “I think the average number was cuatro (Spanish for ‘four’),” he said.

“I had a great time,” Sajak continued. “I have no idea if the shows were any good, but no one said anything, so I guess I did OK.”

Does Sajak still run the “Wheel” after a few drinks, or was that a relic of the crazy, anything-goes ’80s?

“Now, if I were to inhale the cork in a bottle of wine, I’d probably keel over,” he said. “I’m getting a little older.”

Sajak, who appeared happy to answer any question asked of him, also revealed that White smells, well, “great.”

Rihanna to get outfit advice

LONDON – Rihanna has found a unique way of getting some new stage outfits.

The musical superstar from Barbados will be hunting for undiscovered design talent in Britain on a new TV show – as yet unnamed – in which she will be the executive producer and the star.

Sky Living HD announced Thursday it has commissioned media company Twenty Twenty to make the series and say Rihanna will be working mainly behind the scenes.

Hosting duties will go to another pop name, Nicola Roberts from the U.K. group Girls Aloud.

Together they will challenge fashion newcomers to create stage gear for musicians and celebrities – with the final task to dress Rihanna for her July 8 performance at the Wireless music festival in London’s Hyde Park.

Many chose not to be awarded

LONDON – British authorities have released a list of the more than 250 people who rejected royal honors over the past half century.

The Cabinet Office’s list of rebellious would-be award recipients include the author Roald Dahl, the artist Lucian Freud and the sculptor Henry Moore. Painter Francis Bacon and novelist Aldous Huxley are on the list, which was made public Thursday following a freedom of information request.

For many, the disclosure was the first official confirmation that they had rejected a royal award..

Britain’s monarch can bestow a range of honors, from the title of knight to membership of the Order of the British Empire.

Bloomberg honors ‘Gossip Girl’

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg celebrated the 100th episode of the TV show “Gossip Girl” with a visit to the set and a proclamation announcing a onetime “Gossip Girl” day.

Stars Blake Lively and Penn Badgley were on hand for Thursday’s announcement at the show’s set in the Queens neighborhood of Long Island City.

Bloomberg was spotlighting the fact that last year New York played host to 23 primetime episodic shows – more than ever before.

— From news services