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Ken Jennings shares why Jeopardy! audience didn’t ‘want’ him hosting the show: ‘It was very scary’

ken jennings snaps a selfie on X in april 2020
Ken Jennings opened up about his emotional first day hosting Jeopardy! Pic credit: ©KenJennings/X

Ken Jennings clearly loves his job but has faced moments of doubt along the way.

The 50-year-old Jeopardy! host took over for Alex Trebek following the TV legend’s passing in 2020.

Ken filled in as host beginning in Season 37, and by Season 40, he was named the sole permanent host of Jeopardy!

The former contestant admits there was a time when fans of the show weren’t so happy to see him standing at the podium.

In an interview with Rolling Stone, Ken recalled his first episode as the host of Jeopardy! following Alex’s death.

“It was hard to get through because everybody there was very emotional, and I had to be the one talking through it, even though I probably knew him least of all 100 people on set, crew, and the staff,” he told the publication.

“It was very scary,” Ken confessed.

Jeopardy! viewers ‘didn’t want’ Ken hosting

Because Ken Jennings had no prior experience as a broadcaster, Jeopardy! viewers were skeptical he was the man for the job.

The father of two shared that he was aware the audience “didn’t want him there” because they wanted the “other guy” instead: Alex Trebek.

Admittedly, Ken missed Alex, too, though.

At one point, Ken thought, “I’m like, ‘I don’t want to be here. I would give anything to not be here right now.’”

Ken was chosen as Alex’s permanent replacement after a season of rotating hosts

While Jeopardy! viewers continued to question whether Ken was equipped to fill Alex’s shoes, producers brought in a rotating cast of hosts to test the waters.

Famous faces from the entertainment and sports industries tried filling Alex Trebek’s shoes, including Robin Roberts, Katie Couric, Aaron Rodgers, Joe Buck, Mayim Bialik, and LeVar Burton.

With all the attention on who would become the new host, Ken believes that Alex Trebek would not have “loved” the idea of his replacement becoming the focus at Jeopardy!

But, as Ken noted, “The virtue of it is, people did see a bunch of different styles hosting Jeopardy!, and they realized, ‘Oh, if it’s Ken this week and it’s Mayim next week, it’s still Jeopardy!’ The show can survive not being the force of personality of one lovely man.”

Ken holds the record as the most successful Jeopardy! contestant in the show’s history

Ken is well-versed in all things Jeopardy!. Not only has he hosted the show for the last four seasons, but he was also a contestant.

And not just an ordinary contestant, either. Ken was the winningest Jeopardy! Contestant in the history of the show.

Ken, who previously worked as a computer programmer, halted his career to appear on the popular weeknight trivia show, where he won an astounding 74 consecutive games.

His winnings earned him over $2.5 million, and he still holds the record for the number of consecutive games won and the highest winnings in regular-season play.

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