Ken Jennings has been hosting the iconic game show Jeopardy! ever since the longtime host Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 80 back in 2020. In a new interview, Jennings is opening up about struggling to take over for Trebek so soon after his death.
And we can’t really blame him!
Jennings Admits Hosting Jeopardy! ‘Was Very Scary’
“Everybody there was very emotional, and I had to be the one talking through it, even though I probably knew him least of all 100 people on set, crew and the staff,” Jennings, 50, told Rolling Stone. “It was very scary. You’re aware that the audience does not want you there. They’re like me, they want the other guy, and I was missing him too. I’m like, ‘I don’t want to be here. I would give anything to not be here right now.”
Jeopardy! showrunner Michael Davies explained that the original plan after Trebek’s death was to rotate among several hosts to take his place. However, Jennings quickly stood out from the other options. He is, after all, one of the top performers of all time.
“I saw the look that the contestants would have when he’d walk out on the stage. Or his facility with the material,” Davies recalled. “I remember at one point, somebody buzzed in and gave the wrong response, and they said, ‘Who is Gainsborough?’ And he said, ‘Oh, no, I’m sorry, it’s Gainsborough’s great rival,’ and named some other obscure artist. It was just a moment, [but] who on earth other than Ken Jennings could have that moment?”
Related: Ken Jennings Crushed As ‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Prefer Colin Jost Over Him
Jennings Named As Host With Mayim Bialik
Jennings and Mayim Bialik were named as the new permanent hosts of Jeopardy! in 2021. Bialik, an actress known for the television shows Blossom and The Big Bang Theory, revealed in December of 2023 that she had been fired.
In his latest interview, Jennings revealed that he talked to Trebek about potentially hosting Jeopardy! in his place months before his death.
“That was the first time I ever had a conversation with him that was [about] torch passing, and even that was kind of very unspoken,” Jennings remembered.
Related: Ken Jennings Left Speechless By ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant’s Shocking Admission – ‘Oh Wow’
Jeopardy! Is ‘Weirdly Unifying’
These days, Jennings is loving hosting Jeopardy! Indeed, he believes the show unifies people like few other game shows do. We’d have to agree.
“Jeopardy! is a weirdly unifying thing,” Jennings explained. “Young people, old people, red states, blue states – it’s an institution that has this universal acceptance. Whatever the forces of anti-science and fake news and whatever are, they seem to have some carve-out for ‘Jeopardy!’ Maybe because it’s a game?”
“This is a place where nobody says, ‘Why are you doing a category about dinosaurs? Dinosaurs aren’t real.’ Or, ‘Why are you mentioning the moon landing? We never went to the moon,'” he concluded. “For whatever reason, Jeopardy! seems to be immune from that, and maybe that’s a good sign.”
Jennings got his start on Jeopardy! as a contestant twenty years ago. He won a whopping 74 consecutive games during his run, taking home over $2.5 million.
While nobody could ever replace Trebek, Jennings has done an incredible job hosting Jeopardy! We can’t wait to see him continue to do so in the years to come!
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