In their first joint interview since Jeopardy! announced who will fill the shoes of the late, beloved host Alex Trebek, new hosts Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings sat down to talk to Good Morning America about the next era for the long-running game show.
“We miss Alex every day. But luckily, it still feels like Jeopardy!” Jennings said.
The show’s executive producer, Michael Davies, announced in July that Bialik and Jennings would become the show’s official co-hosts permanently. Both were among a string of guest hosts who filled in temporarily after Trebek died of cancer in 2020.
Bialik is a four-time Emmy-nominated actress who is best known for her television sitcom roles in Blossom and The Big Bang Theory. Jennings holds the record for the longest winning streak on the game show, with 74 consecutive wins.
Jennings said that because he had played so many games, he thought he would have a “pretty good sense” of what hosting would be like, but said he was quickly proven wrong. “You realize hosting’s even harder because you basically have to do everything the contestants do, plus manage the game for them, plus manage the game for the home viewer,” Jennings said.
Bialik joked, “And not make faces.” She explained, “I think for both of us, we feel like we’re really ushering in what Alex facilitated so beautifully, which is, again, highlighting contestants and the show that people know and love. I think for me and Ken, we do love the purity and the fun Jeopardy! has been and will continue to be.”
Jennings said of the hosting duties, “Some nights it’s gonna be me. Some nights it’s gonna be Mayim. But it’s always Jeopardy!“
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