Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings has taken time to remember his predecessor and icon Alex Trebek on the anniversary of his death, sharing memories of his last time visiting the former host on the set of the game show.
“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 began in the video posted to Jeopardy!‘s social media accounts. “It was shortly before the pandemic and he had announced his cancer diagnosis. And he actually asked if I would come backstage.”
“I was a little apprehensive about this,” he admitted. “I’d never been to his dressing room, you know, as a contestant.” Ultimately, what Jennings recounted of the meeting was that Trebek hadn’t been in the best shape behind the scenes of the quiz show. “He wasn’t feeling great that day—often he would look and sound fantastic while doing the show but he wasn’t in the best shape backstage—but he greeted me warmly and I asked how he was doing,” he continued.
What impressed the current host most was Trebek’s ability to keep his composure, as well as the emotional state he’d reached as fans sent their love in his direction. “I was really touched by how emotional he was about the outpouring of love he was getting from Jeopardy! fans. You would not believe just the tens of thousands of letters and notes and afghans and emails and everything that poured in and he went through and read everything.”
When it came to that particular day on set, Jennings remembered Trebek had told him, “‘Ken, you know most people don’t get to hear the nice things about themselves because people don’t say it until after they’re gone. You know they say those things at the funeral… I got to hear all those things while I’m still here.’”
In other words, Trebek knew how loved he was by viewers and Jennings got to see first-hand how it impacted the legendary game show host. “It was just sweet how genuinely thoughtful and grateful he was for that opportunity,” Jennings added. “It struck me then that maybe he had never thought much about how much he meant to people as kind of a light entertainer, a quiz show host. He didn’t realize how important he was to people who watched Jeopardy!.”
Jennings recalled that he gave Trebek a hug backstage, even though he wasn’t sure that Trebek was a hugger, and noted that it was nice to see the host’s reaction to the love and support fans sent his way. “He didn’t realize what he meant to us, which was everything,” Jennings concluded.
See his full message, above, and let us know what you thought of Jennings’ moving story, below.
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