‘Jeopardy!’: Meet the Next Guest Host, Savannah Guthrie

Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie takes over Jeopardy! this week, and no one is more excited than she is. Guthrie is the latest celebrity guest host to hold the podium following the death of long-time host Alex Trebek in December of 2020. Here is what you need to know about Guthrie ahead of her stint.

Guthrie is a broadcast journalist and an attorney best known for co-anchoring The Today Show since 2012. She has held other roles on NBC News as well, often with an emphasis on legal analysis and major trials across the country. Guthrie will co-host Jeopardy! from Monday, June 14 to Friday, June 25, though her episodes were taped well in advance. She discussed the process in an interview on the Jeopardy! set published by the show’s official social media accounts.

“Jeopardy! is iconic,” Guthrie said. “It’s this legendary show, everyone loves it, everyone I know that’s smart and thoughtful and interesting loves Jeopardy. Everyone I work with loves Jeopardy! My family loves Jeopardy! Of everything I’ve ever done in my career, honestly, hosting Jeopardy! is the thing I think people are most excited about — and I am too!”

Although she is an icon in American media, Guthrie was actually born in Melbourne, Australia while her father was stationed there for work. However, her family returned to the U.S. when she was a toddler and settled in Tuscon, Arizona, where she attended school through college at the University of Arizona. She then moved around the country finding work as a broadcast journalist where she could.

Those jobs took Guthrie to Washington, D.C. where she would go on to get her law degree at Georgetown University Law Center in 2002. Guthrie practiced law in the district for a time, including work with domestic violence victims and white-collar criminal defense litigation. That led her back to broadcast when she became a national trial correspondent for CourtTV in 2004.

Guthrie’s career came full circle in 2007 when she found her way back into broadcast journalism as a legal analyst for NBC News. She covered high-profile cases for a number of programs but made her biggest mark on The Today Show when she took over for Ann Curry in 2011.

Guthrie’s name was in the headlines a lot last year for her high-profile coverage of the 2020 presidential election. She conducted an interview with then-President Donald Trump about the COVID-19 pandemic and his mysterious personal finances, which people on both sides criticized for being either too soft or too harsh. She then moderated Trump’s town hall when he refused to participate in a virtual debate while he was sick with the coronavirus.

Still, none of this experience has diminished Guthrie’s enthusiasm for Jeopardy! She said: “I love the show, I admire Alex Trebek, I see how excellent the staff is and what they bring to the show — how much talent and heart intelligence, precision and care is brought to this show, and I just want to merit that. I wanted to belong here for my moment that I’m here and let them know how much I respect them and how much I respect this place.”

Guthrie’s hosting stint follows one by actress Mayim Bialik and precedes a week of episodes hosted by Dr. Sanjay Gupta. Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7 p.m. ET — check your local listing for the correct channel. You can also stream the game show live on FuboTV here or on Hulu + Live TV here — both with free trials for new users.

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