Ken Jennings Reveals Touching ‘Jeopardy!’ Tradition From Alex Trebek

The Canadian-American TV host died in November 2020 on the age of 80 after a public battle with pancreatic most cancers.

Ken Jennings has made it no secret that he’s an enormous fan of science fiction, which is why he attended the TCM Traditional Movie Competition opening night time screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Again on April 24. On the occasion, he advised PEOPLE magazine about how “tough” it was to step into the late host’s sneakers.

“It was very tough after Alex handed as a result of, in fact, all of us missed him,” he defined. “Nobody had seen anyone else host Jeopardy for practically 40 years. It was a tough adjustment, and I did not need to be there.”

“I needed Alex – like he was my man, however fortunately I had seen him host sufficient that I form of had this inner sense of what he would do right here, and that is actually the one factor that acquired me by,” he continued. “And some years on, I’ve gotten sufficient reps that I really feel just a little extra snug on the market.”

Jennings was then requested if he needed to modify something up and make it totally different from the best way Alex Trebek did. Nevertheless, he stated that the producers comply with a “very tight format” and famous that they’re serving a “tradition-observant viewers” and a “change-resistant viewers” that may not like him messing with the best way Alex did issues an excessive amount of.

“So I do not assume anyone out of the blue needs to…What would it not even be? A catchphrase? ‘Jennings out!’?” he joked. “I feel Ryan [Seacrest]’s doing Wheel [of Fortune] now, so there’s unlikely to be huge adjustments on my watch,” he added. “I am a fan before everything. I need to see the Jeopardy I grew up on.”

The format of the present is unlikely to vary, and evidently one dressing room custom inherited from Alex Trebek will not be going to vary both. Jennings defined that Alex was an enormous previous film fan, so Trebek at all times had TCM (Turner Traditional Motion pictures) within the dressing room earlier than the present.

“From my childhood on, and it is a part of our Jeopardy! custom as a result of Alex at all times had TCM on within the dressing room, and that is one thing I am gladly protecting going,” Jennings revealed, noting that he’s “completely” additionally a fan of previous films, similar to Trebek was.

Alex Trebek revealed that he had been recognized with pancreatic most cancers in 2019 and handed away the next yr. On November 8, 2024, the fourth anniversary of his demise, Jennings took to Instagram to share a candy reminiscence of the late host.

“At this time, on the anniversary of his passing, I have been considering loads concerning the final time I ever got here right here to observe him host,” he shared. “It was shortly earlier than the pandemic, and he had introduced his most cancers analysis, and he truly requested if I might come backstage. And I used to be just a little bit apprehensive about this. I might by no means been to his dressing room, as a contestant.”

“He wasn’t feeling nice that day,” he continued. “Typically he would look and sound incredible whereas doing the present, however he wasn’t in one of the best form backstage, however he greeted me warmly, and I requested how he was doing, and I used to be actually touched by how emotional he was concerning the outpouring of affection he was getting from Jeopardy followers.”