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Alex Trebek‘s Jeopardy! contract is up in 2020 and it sounds like he’s ready to move on from a life of demanding answers in the form of a question. The longtime host of the syndicated game show was asked in an interview with TMZ if he’s done after his contract ends in 2020, and he didn’t shy away from imagining a world without Jeopardy! in it.
When Jeopardy! get viral attention, it’s often his reaction to the moments that adds to the weirdness. That’s his job, after all, and it will be strange to consider the show without him.
But according to his interview with TMZ, there’s a good chance he’s done. Asked the odds that he stays after 2020, Trebek said it’s “50/50 and a little less.”
Trebek said he does have a suggestion for his replacement, and it’s actually someone from the sports broadcasting world.
“I mentioned to our producer not too long ago that a fella who does play-by-play for the Los Angeles Kings,” Trebek said. “They should consider him.”
That’s Alex Faust, a 29-year-old broadcaster who replaced the legendary Jim Miller on Kings games in 2017. That would be a bit of a darkhorse pick given how high-profile the postion of Jeopardy! host has become under Trebek’s control, but is recommendation probably merits some attention.
Trebek was asked about a female host, and he suggested CNN contributor and lawyer Laura Coates. Trebek has hosted Jeopardy! since 1984 and had brain surgery early in the year, which put production of the show on hiatus. But it doesn’t seem like there’s any particular reason Trebek might leave, it just might time to go.
