‘Jeopardy!’ Will Reportedly Reveal Its New Permanent Host ‘Very Soon’

Jeopardy! may finally be ready to name its permanent host. Michael Davies, Jeopardy!‘s executive producer, appeared at the Daytime Emmy Awards recently and said that the show is hoping to announce Alex Trebek’s successor “very, very soon.” According to Variety, Davies also touched upon the “awkward months” of the show when they dealt with the scandal surrounding Mike Richards, Jeopardy!‘s former executive producer who was named as the next permanent host. Richards took a step back and was later fired altogether amid allegations of workplace misconduct among other issues. 

Davies said that Jeopardy! fans may get that official hosting announcement “very, very soon.” Although, he did not that there more than likely won’t just be one host in the Jeopardy! rotation. He added, “But with all of our plans for Jeopardy! — which is more Jeopardy!, not less, more versions —we’re going to need multiple hosts to represent the entire audience, to represent the entire country, in order to take this franchise forward.”

Even though Jeopardy! does not have a permanent host at the moment, the quiz show has been experiencing a majorly successful season thanks to a series of prominent champions. As Davies said, he’s grateful that the show was able to move past its “awkward months” with the Richards scandal so that they could produce such entertaining content. “The scandal was, as we call it at Jeopardy!, ‘the awkward months,’” the producer began. “But it showed the power of our audience and how passionately our fans care about the program, which is just so important. What’s happened over the course of the season — Matt Amodio, and Amy Schneider and Mattea [Roach] and Ryan [Long] — really made us just remember how incredible the game is. The stars of our show and Mayim [Bialik] and Ken [Jennings] have done incredible job hosting.”

Currently, Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings have been trading off guest-hosting duties as Jeopardy! decides on who will permanently take over the role. The show previously sought to have Richards take over Trebek’s legacy on the program. But, shortly after the news was announced, Richards decided to step down from the position amid a great deal of controversy. Later, he was fired from his position as an executive producer for both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Suzanne Prete, the executive vice president of business and strategy for the two shows, shared a memo with the teams informing them of the decision. 

“Michael Davies from Embassy Row has agreed to help with production on an interim basis until further notice. Michael and I will work together with all of you in the weeks ahead to ensure that production remains on schedule and we do not miss a beat as we head into the new season,” the memo read, per Variety. “I know this has been a challenging time for the entire team, and I want to thank you all for your cooperation and professionalism over these last few weeks.” Fans have since been clamoring for news on who would be Jeopardy!‘s permanent host. Based on what Davies said recently, that announcement could be coming in the near future.