Honoring a game show legend, current Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings shares a heartfelt tribute to Alex Trebek four years after his death.
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The special tribute was posted on Jeopardy!’s Instagram account. “We lost Alex Trebek four years ago today,” the post’s caption reads. “To honor his memory, Ken shares a story about Alex reflecting on the love he felt from his fans.”
Ken Jennings, who won 74 games of Jeopardy! before becoming the game show’s host, spoke about Alex Trebek. He recalled a special moment they shared shortly after Trebek’s cancer diagnosis was announced.
“Today, on the anniversary of his passing, I’ve been thinking a lot about the last time I ever came here to watch him host,” Jennings said. “It was shortly before the pandemic, and he had announced his cancer diagnosis, and he actually asked if I would come backstage. And I was a little bit apprehensive about this. I’d never been to his dressing room, as a contestant.”
Jennings further revealed that Trebek wasn’t feeling “great” that day. However, he had kept it together for the near and far audience. “Often he would look and sound fantastic while doing the show, but he wasn’t in the best shape backstage,” Jennings recounted. “But he greeted me warmly, and I asked how he was doing, and I was really touched by how emotional he was about the outpouring of love he was getting from Jeopardy! fans.”
In March 2019, Alex Trebek announced he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He revealed that he had been experiencing a persistent stomachache before he was diagnosed. The late game show host said he didn’t know that was a symptom. After 20 months of battling the cancer, he died on Nov. 8, 2020.
Ken Jennings Recalled Alex Trebek Reading All the Letters and Notes Fans Sent Him Following the Cancer Diagnosis News
Ken Jennings also said Alex Trebek went through the thousands of letters and notes that were sent to him after he announced his cancer diagnosis.
“He said, ‘Ken, most people don’t get to hear the nice things about themselves, because people don’t say it until after they’re gone. They say those things at the funeral,'” Jennings noted. “He said, ‘I got to hear all those things while I’m still here.’ And it was just sweet how genuinely thoughtful and grateful he was for that opportunity.”
Jennings then spoke about what he admired about Trebek. “It struck me then that maybe he had never thought much about how much he meant to people as a light entertainer, a quiz show host. He didn’t realize how important he was to people who watched Jeopardy!”
“He didn’t realize what he meant to us, which was which was everything,” he added.