‘Wheel of Fortune’ Hostess Vanna White Shares Update on Longtime Friend Alex Trebek’s Cancer Battle

Wheel of Fortune letter-turner (and temporary hostess) Vanna White shared a promising update on longtime friend Alex Trebek‘s battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, saying he’s “doing good.”

“He’s doing good. He really is,” White, 62, told Us Weekly of Trebek, 79. “He looks good. I talked to him recently and he’s got a very positive attitude.”

After being named the godmother of Carnival Cruise Lines’ Carnival Panorama, White explained that she admired Trebek’s bravery and candor with Jeopardy! viewers as he battles the illness. “I love that he’s honest and open with his fans, because he’s been doing the show for a very long time also and feels very connected to all of his fans and viewers,” she said. “He is definitely keeping everybody updated on how he’s doing, and I am so proud of him. He’s still working, he’s obviously doing chemotherapy but working through it, and has that strong will to, as we say, the show must go on.”

Fans of the longrunning trivia show were happy to see Trebek cracking jokes and spreading smiles in behind-the-scenes footage this week. The game show shared a clip to its Instagram page showing a look at a commercial Trebek filmed for an app called Drivetime.

Embracing his role as a backseat driver, Trebek makes the entire crew break out into laughter with his jokes and puns, at one time yelling, “All right, watch out for that pedestrian!” and stating, “I keep ad-libbing and I forget what I’m saying.”

The video also shows Trebek hilariously acting out a road rage scene, with another moment showing the longtime game show host’s face appearing over his mouth to block out his cursing.

Trebek announced his cancer diagnosis in March, saying in a video message that he was determined to “fight this and … keep working.” He underwent an initial round of chemotherapy and returned to work in August after Jeopardy’s summer filming break, but revealed on Good Morning America in September that he had to “undergo chemo again.”

He has remained the sole host of Jeopardy! where he’s led the show’s syndicated version since 1984, and tried to keep a positive outlook about his future on TV.

“I talk to the producers about this all the time now. I say, ‘Look, I’m slurring my words. My tongue doesn’t work as much, as well as it used to. The chemo has caused sores inside my mouth. It makes it difficult for me to speak and enunciate properly,” he said on the Canadian news program, W5 in October. “They say, ‘Well, we don’t notice.’ I notice those things. And I’m sure there are observant members of the television audience who notice also.”

But Trebek says he does not fear the worst. “I’ve lived a good life, a full life, and I’m nearing the end of that life,” he told W5. “If it happens, why should I be afraid of that?”

Photo credit: Mathew Imaging / Contributor / Getty