Alex Trebek doesn’t plan on leaving “Jeopardy!” anytime soon.
Last week, just a few days before his 80th birthday, the longtime game show host said he hopes to return to the studio “very, very soon,” the Deseret News reported.
“I can’t wait to return to the studio and start recording shows for the new season in September,” said Trebek, who is battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer and has been quarantined at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “I’m doing well. I’ve been continuing my treatment and it is paying off though it does fatigue me a great deal. My numbers are good, I’m feeling great.”
But Trebek recently told “Good Morning America” that if he did have to name a “Jeopardy!” host replacement, he had someone in mind: Betty White.
“I joke with the audience all the time and I say, ‘Betty White,’ because they want somebody younger, somebody funnier,” he told “Good Morning America.” “Betty and I have been friends for a long, long time.”
The 98-year-old actress is part of the network of family, friends and fans that have offered support to Trebek during this time, according to “Good Morning America.”
“(Fans) are the most important elements in my life outside of my family and friends,” Trebek told “Good Morning America.” “Because they have expressed their feelings about me in so many positive ways that I can’t help but be touched by what they have to say, and by what I mean to them. It’s humbling. It’s nice to be humbled.”
Since helming “Jeopardy!” in 1984, Trebek has hosted more than 7,500 episodes, been nominated for 34 Daytime Emmy Awards and has won seven of those awards, according to CNN. The last Daytime Emmy Award came last month for Outstanding Game Show Host.
Fans have long speculated who would be a good replacement for Trebek when the time comes. One name that frequently rises to the top is Ken Jennings, the legendary contestant who won 74 games in 2004 and earlier this year claimed the “Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time” title.
“I mean, it’s absolutely a dream job,” Jennings told the Deseret News earlier this year. “What a great job. … But I really can’t even think about anybody but (Trebek) hosting the show. He’s a hero to America’s nerds. I’m not emotionally prepared for turning on the TV and seeing anybody who’s not Alex Trebek — whether it’s me or not — hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ I’m just not ready to consider that yet.
“I hope he hosts for 100 years.”