Pat Sajak is speaking out about his recent health crisis. In November, the Wheel of Fortune host had a life-threatening illness that kept him side-lined from the game show and into emergency surgery. It turns out Sajak had a blocked intestine. 

Sajak spoke with Good Morning America and explained he had just returned home from his morning walk with his daughter Maggie when he started to feel a "horrific pain" inside his stomach. According to Sajak,

I didn't know what it [was] -- but within two and a half hours, I was in surgery. It was that quick and intense.

Sajak went on to explain how the pain was so intense he thought he was dying. Sajak stated, 

In the background, I could hear my wife and daughter talking. It sounded like they were a mile off, but they were right next to me. They were talking to each other. And I remember thinking, not in a morbid way, 'I think this must be death. This must be what death is like.'

The surgery was a success and Sajak is back on the mend and in the studio after not previously missing a single episode in the 40 years he's been hosting the show. To find out what Sajak thought about his co-host Vanna White stepping in to take his place while he was recovering, watch the interview below.