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Ken Jennings says he was as surprised as anyone to learn he would become the solo host of Jeopardy!, the long-running US gameshow.
In an interview published on Monday by the Hollywood Reporter, Jennings, the most famous contestant in the quizshow\u2019s history, said he was not expecting co-host Mayim Bialik\u2019s announcement that she was leaving.
\u201cIt took me off guard, because I loved working with my Mayim and I\u2019m going to miss her,\u201d Jennings remarked in the interview.
Jennings added that he could not \u201cspeak to her decision-making or her opinions about it\u201d. But he said he was up for the task of serving as the show\u2019s solo host, describing the role as one he would like to retain for the same 38 years that his predecessor Alex Trebek did.
\u201cIt\u2019s such an honor, and hopefully I look forward to 37 more years of doing it, when I\u2019ll be a very, very old man,\u201d said Jennings, who \u2013 after an interim run \u2013 was given a share of the long-term hosting duties in July 2022 alongside Bialik.
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Bialik, who appeared in the sitcoms Blossom and The Big Bang Theory, had earned an Emmy nomination in the summer for her work on the quizshow. But more recently she said Sony Pictures Television, which produces Jeopardy!, had told her she would no longer be hosting.
\u201cI am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Jeopardy! family,\u201d said Bialik, who had occasionally caused controversy with her comments on vaccines and politics.
Bialik did not elaborate on the reasons for her departure, though Sony distributed a statement thanking her for her contributions to the show and saying it would continue \u201cto work with her on primetime specials\u201d.
Sony said Jennings would remain as the \u201csole host\u201d in hopes of maintaining \u201ccontinuity for \u2026 viewers\u201d of the quizshow, which began airing in 1964 and whose contestants must supply answers in the forms of questions.
Jennings gained international fame by setting a record with 74 consecutive Jeopardy! wins and more than $2.5m in prize money in 2004. He was a computer software engineer at the time.
After Trebek\u2019s death in November 2020, Sony chose Mike Richards to be the long-term successor. But he resigned within two weeks because of sexist, antisemitic and racist comments he made while hosting a podcast from 2013 to 2014.
Jennings in Monday\u2019s interview said he felt \u201cextremely lucky to have even been considered for this job as a non-broadcaster\u201d.
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a weird thing to try to bring back an ex-contestant to host, and I\u2019ve obviously been learning as I go,\u201d Jennings said.