Ken Jennings Reveals Touching ‘Jeopardy!’ Custom 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 a giant fan of science fiction, which is why he attended the TCM Traditional Movie Competition opening evening screening of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Again on April 24. On the occasion, he informed PEOPLE journal about how “difficult” it was to step into the late host’s sneakers.

“It was very difficult after Alex handed as a result of, after all, 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 wish to be there.”

“I wished 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 means of,” he continued. “And some years on, I’ve gotten sufficient reps that I really feel slightly extra snug on the market.”

Jennings was then requested if he wished to modify something up and make it completely different from the way in which Alex Trebek did. Nonetheless, he mentioned that the producers observe a “very tight format” and famous that they’re serving a “tradition-observant viewers” and a “change-resistant viewers” that might not like him messing with the way in which Alex did issues an excessive amount of.

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

The format of the present is unlikely to alter, and it appears that evidently one dressing room custom inherited from Alex Trebek isn’t going to alter both. Jennings defined that Alex was a giant outdated film fan, so Trebek all the time had TCM (Turner Traditional Motion pictures) within the dressing room earlier than the present.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 all the time had TCM on within the dressing room, and that is one thing I am gladly preserving going,” Jennings revealed, noting that he’s “completely” additionally a fan of outdated motion pictures, identical to Trebek was.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 dying, 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 pondering so much in regards to 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 prognosis, and he really requested if I might come backstage. And I used to be slightly 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 in regards to the outpouring of affection he was getting from Jeopardy followers.”