Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • When you think Jeopardy!, you think Alex Trebek.

  • For more than 30 years, Trebek has been the face of the classic game show, appearing on

  • our television screens every weeknight to test contestants' knowledge.

  • However, his time on the iconic show might soon be coming to an end.

  • In March 2019, the game show host revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic

  • cancer in a YouTube video titled, "A Message From Alex Trebek."

  • At the time, Trebek told fans that he wasn't letting the diagnosis get the best of him,

  • and that he didn't plan on stepping away from Jeopardy!.

  • "Now normally the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this

  • and I'm going to keep working."

  • In October 2019, Trebek opened up about how chemotherapy had started to affect his ability

  • to do his job, telling CTV,

  • "There are weaknesses I feel in my body but I can always suck it up when it comes to tape

  • the show."

  • But Trebek went on to say that his showtime fortitude won't last long.

  • "I will keep doing it as long as my skills do not diminish, and they have started to

  • diminish."

  • Trebek has acknowledged that he might not be able to host Jeopardy! the way he wants

  • to much longer.

  • So who does Alex Trebek want to host Jeopardy! next?

  • With almost 8,000 episodes and 35 years under his belt, Alex Trebek has become an invaluable

  • part of Jeopardy! history.

  • Whoever takes his place, hopefully sometime very far down the road, will have some pretty

  • big shoes to fill.

  • In an interview with Vulture, Trebek said that whenever people ask who he thinks should

  • replace him he replies, quote, "The decision will be out of my hands."

  • However, whether that's true or not, it hasn't stopped him from brainstorming some possible

  • replacements.

  • In 2018, the host gave TMZ the names of two people he thought would be great for the gig.

  • The first?

  • LA Kings' hockey announcer, Alex Faust an unsurprising choice if you remember Trebek's

  • hockey-loving, Canadian roots.

  • And for his part, the 28-year-old already has experience stepping into an iconic role

  • since he took over the announcer job from Hall of Fame broadcaster Bob Miller.

  • "Good lookin' out, I'll see y'all on Sportscenter tonight."

  • "You got it, man.

  • Snoop Dogg in the house."

  • Trebek also said that he thought CNN legal analyst Laura Coates would be a good fit to

  • stand behind the podium as well.

  • In addition to appearing on CNN, Coates also hosts a Sirius XM show.

  • "How do you know?

  • 'Cuz you have the Constitution, under Article II, that says they can do so ..."

  • While Alex Trebek has been hosting the hit trivia show since 1984, Jeopardy! originally

  • debuted 20 years earlier in 1964.

  • Although it seems like Trebek has been hosting the show forever, he was otherwise engaged

  • during the early years of the game show.

  • When Jeopardy! initially aired, Art Fleming was the one in the host seat.

  • He quizzed contestants for more than a decade, posing his final Jeopardy! question in 1975.

  • All that to say, the show was around for quite some time before Trebek landed the gig, and

  • he believes it should continue long after he decides to step away, whenever that may

  • be.

  • Even after all these years, Trebek hasn't let the gig go to his head.

  • He's a team player who just wants to see the show succeed with or without him.

  • Trebek told Vulture,

  • "You have to set your ego aside.

  • The stars of the show are the contestants and the game itself.

  • That's why I've always insisted that I be introduced as the host and not the star."

  • Trebek added that he always pushes the contestants to put their best foot forward because, quote,

  • "if they do well, the show does well."

  • Only time will tell if Alex Faust and Laura Coates will be considered for the job or if

  • it will be somebody else completely, but when the time comes for his replacement to take

  • over and Trebek to say his goodbyes, he already knows what he's going to say:

  • "Hey, folks, thank you.

  • Been a good run and all good things must come to an end."

  • Check out one of our newest videos right here!

  • Plus, even more Nicki Swift videos about your favorite celebs are coming soon.

  • Subscribe to our YouTube channel and hit the bell so you don't miss a single one.

When you think Jeopardy!, you think Alex Trebek.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it