Alex Trebek Allegedly Wanted Ken Jennings To Take Over As ‘Jeopardy!’ Host

Alex Trebek was the legendary host of Jeopardy! for decades. When he passed away two years ago, it was extremely tough for viewers to accept that a new host had to be found. After some drama happened in finding a new host, it has since been decided that Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings and actress Mayim Bialik will share hosting duties for now.

Ken won over $4.5 million while competing on the game show and became a fan-favorite contestant. Since he was on the show so often, he became close with Alex and now believes that Alex would be happy that he was taking over hosting duties.

Ken Jennings believes Alex Trebek wanted him to take over hosting ‘Jeopardy!’

Ken shared, “I don’t want to put words in anybody’s mouth. But over the years, I did get the sense that it was an idea that wouldn’t have annoyed Alex. He asked me to read his audiobook when his voice wasn’t up to doing every chapter towards the end. I felt like that was a very nice gesture of successorship that he didn’t have to make.”

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Ken also talked about the last conversation he had with Alex before he died from pancreatic cancer. He said, “The thing that stuck with me is he thanked me for coming in to fill in for him. That just broke me. I said, ‘Alex, are you kidding? We should be thanking you. I’d take a bullet for you, Alex. I’m happy to help.’”

Ken added that Alex once told him he believed in ghosts so he now wonders if Alex is still hanging around the set of the show. He continued, “You do kind of feel like he must be in the building. It’s not quite the same as a spectral form peering around a corner and saying, ‘No, no, what is Bucharest? Bucharest, Romania.’ But it’s nice to feel like he’s still there and part of the show.”

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