‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Get Emotional After Alex Trebek Chokes up on Air

Jeopardy! fans were not prepared for the touching moment that came during Monday night’s “Final Jeopardy” when host Alex Trebek found himself choked up with emotion. There wasn’t a dry eye in the building when contestant Dhruv Gaur offered a message of support for the longtime host amid his stage 4 pancreatic cancer battle. Apparently, Gaur didn’t know the answer to “Final Jeopardy,” so instead of taking a stab at it, he simply wrote, “We [love] you Alex.” The 79-year-old wasn’t expecting the sweet gesture and could barely read the response out loud.

The hashtag #WeLoveYouAlex quickly started trending on Twitter as fans shared their reactions to the touching moment. “Alex Trebek has really been a legend in my household. I learned to stop doubting myself in school because of that show. Learned a lot of things I didn’t even know. #WeLoveYouAlex,” one person wrote.

“Love when a single gesture gives me hope that kindness and love are not dead #weloveyoualex,” another said.

“Alex Trebek getting choked up at a heartfelt final jeopardy answer. The instant welling up of tears and emotion no viewer expected to have tonight. What a moment,” another viewer tweeted.

Some simply had to use memes to appropriately convey their emotions over what they witnessed.

Even the show’s official Twitter account got in on the hashtag.

Gaur, the contestant who’s responsible for making everyone cry, tweeted about the moment after the show aired.

“Sorry for west coast spoilers, but I’m really glad I got the opportunity to say to Alex what everybody at the tournament was thinking. For context, Alex had just shared with us that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer,” he explained.

“We were all hurting for him so badly. When Final Jeopardy came up, I could’ve tried to puzzle it together, but really, just kept thinking about Alex, and thought he should know. I’m just very grateful I got the opportunity to say what I know everyone was thinking. Sending all the love,” Gaur wrote.

Trebek first announced his cancer diagnosis in March. After finishing a first round of chemo and having positive results, he made public in September that the cancer was back and he was forced to restart treatment.