Alex Trebek Reveals His Plans for When He Retires From ‘Jeopardy!’

After revealing last year that he is battling pancreatic cancer, Alex Trebek shared that he would continue to host Jeopardy! until his skills decline too much for him to do so. Speaking to reporters at the Television Critics Association winter press tour on Wednesday, Jan. 8, Trebek joked about how he’ll spend his time after retiring, responding simply, “Drink.”

According to PEOPLE, the host added that he will also “work around the house,” though he doesn’t expect to be doing either of these things full-time in the near future.

“Keep in mind I’m 79,” Trebek said. “I don’t foresee that 30-second moment coming up in the near future,” Trebek said, referring to a previous comment in which he explained that he plans to ask directors to give him 30 seconds at the end of his final broadcast to say goodbye — and that’s the same allotted time contestants have on the show.

“When you’ve been hosting, there are some of you who have been doing your jobs for many years,” he continued. “Some of you two or three decades. When you’ve been in the same job for that long period of time, it moves you to think at some point about retiring. Thinking about retiring and retiring are two different things.”

He added that “as long as I feel my skills haven’t diminished too much and as long as I’m enjoying spending time with bright people and working with people like Harry [Friedman] and our creative writing team, then I’m going to do it.”

In a recent interview with ABC’s Michael Strahan, Trebek revealed how he plans to say goodbye to viewers when his last episode eventually arrives.

“It’ll be a significant moment for me,” he said. “But I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want.’ And I will say my goodbyes and I will tell people, ‘Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever. But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me…then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success. And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.’”

During the TCA tour, Trebek shared an update on his treatment.

“Some days are better than others,” he said. “They’ve got me off one of my chemo drugs, which was killing me. I’ll go for a checkup in a week to see where things stand.”

Photo Credit: Getty / Stewart Cook