Entertainment

Alex Trebek Has Already Started Rehearsing His Departure From 'Jeopardy!'

by Julie Scagell
Alex Trebek
Gregg DeGuire/Getty Images

Alex Trebek talked to ‘GMA’ host Michael Strahan about his departure from ‘Jeopardy!’

Beloved game show host Alex Trebek is already thinking about his final show.

The 79-year-old revealed his thoughts on his final goodbyes during a recent sit-down with Good Morning America’s Michael Strahan on ABC’s primetime special “What Is Jeopardy!? Alex Trebek and America’s Most Popular Quiz Show,” leaving fans already in a state of depression over when his last appearance will be.

Trebek has been hosting Jeopardy! since 1984, revealing last year that he has Stage IV pancreatic cancer. During the interview, Trebek said that his departure from the show will be “a significant moment for me, but I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already.”

The iconic host, so beloved he has a Saturday Night Live skit honoring him played by Will Ferrell, told Strahan he predicts the show will go a little something like this: “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.”

Dear lord someone pass me an entire box of tissues.

He continued: “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.'”

No one will ever be able to take his place.

Trebek made the cancer announcement during a broadcast back in March, saying, “Just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week, I was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer. Now, normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working. And with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rates statistics for this disease.”

For a bit of good news, the man that’s graced our living rooms for decades will host ABC’s primetime Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament beginning this week. The tournament features champions Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter, and James Holzhauer, and they will face-off against each other in a battle of smartest human being on the planet — reminding the rest of us how inferior we really are.

Here’s hoping we have as much time as possible to watch this absolute gentleman continue to do what he loves for as long as possible. Trebek is truly a national treasure, and we should all feel lucky we’ve had him in our lives for as long as we have.