SAYING GOODBYE to Jeopardy!

THE BELOVED HOST OPENS UP ABOUT STEPPING AWAY FROM THE HIT GAME SHOW AFTER 36 YEARS

Aside from a little extra facial hair, Alex Trebek looked like himself. “I’m doing well. I’ve been continuing my treatment, and it is paying off, though it does fatigue me a great deal,” the longtime Jeopardy! host, who has been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer for more than a year, assured fans in a July 16 video taped at his home. “My numbers are good, I’m feeling great. In fact, during the break from the studio, I even wrote a book.”

His memoir, The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life, was released on July 21, the day before the beloved TV personality celebrated his 80th birthday. Despite the fact that he’s “never seen myself as anything special,” Alex explains he wrote the book partly because of the “millions of people out there who seem to care and who feel I have played an important part in their lives.” Likewise, the show is often what has kept him going following his diagnosis. “It’s the strangest thing: There are days when I’m just a basket case before we tape. I can barely walk. But when I get out onstage, it all changes suddenly. I’m myself again,” shares Alex, who is signed on to host until 2022. “Yet I know there will come a time when I won’t be able to answer that bell. Whenever it gets to that point, I’ll walk away.”

A DIFFICULT CHOICE

He’s already preparing for the end. “I still believe in positivity. I believe in optimism. I believe in hope, and I certainly believe in the power of prayer,” he writes, but admits “there are moments when that will to survive disappears and I’m ready to pack it in.” He reveals he recently told his wife of 30 years, Jean, and their children, Matthew, 29, and Emily, 26, that if his current therapy fails, he’s going to stop treatment. “I’m not afraid of dying. I’ve lived a good, full life, and I’m nearing the end of it. And Jeopardy!,” he adds, “will be just fine.” ◼