Alex Trebek Dead: 'Jeopardy!' Legend Ken Jennings Calls Late Host the 'Best Ever'

Many former Jeopardy! contestants have paid tribute to host Alex Trebek in light of his passing. [...]

By Stephanie Downs

Many former Jeopardy! contestants have paid tribute to host Alex Trebek in light of his passing. On Twitter, Ken Jennings, who won the Greatest of All-Time event earlier this year and is currently the highest-earning game show contestant of all time, paid tribute to Trebek with a lovely message. Jennings noted that he is not only thinking of Trebek's family, but he's also thinking about the Jeopardy! community, as well.

Jennings wrote that Trebek was simply "the best ever at what he did." He went on to write that the late host was also a "lovely and deeply decent man" and that he's grateful for all of the time he was able to spend with him ever since he first appearing on Jeopardy! back in 2004. In a subsequent tweet, Jennings wrote that he is thinking of Trebek's family (the host is survived by his wife, Jean Currivan-Trebek and his children, Matthew, Emily, and Nicky) and the Jeopardy! family, which he wrote included "millions of us."

As Jeopardy! fans are well aware, Trebek was battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He originally told fans about his diagnosis in March 2019. Throughout his battle with the illness, he continued to host the quiz show as expertly as always. Recently, during an interview for our video series, PopCulture @ Home video, Jennings explained that Trebek was eager to get back to work on the current season of Jeopardy! as he truly enjoyed his role as host of the show.

"He was visibly cranky during the hiatus because Jeopardy! had to take a slightly longer than usual hiatus because they ran out of new shows and weren't allowed to tape during the pandemic," Jennings explained. "Alex was climbing the walls. He wanted to be working. He really missed it. I've watched him on that set and it's where he feels his most capable, his most confident, his most old-self despite the cancer battle. That's why he's going to keep doing that job for as long as he can and we are lucky to have him."

Jeopardy! will continue to air new episodes featuring Trebek through Dec. 25. His last day of filming in the studio was reportedly on Oct. 29.

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