Couric makes ‘Jeopardy!’ history as first female host
Who is Katie Couric?
Coinciding with International Women’s Day, on Monday the veteran journalist became the first woman to guest host “Jeopardy!”
Couric made her debut after repeat champion Ken Jennings and executive producer Mike Richards initially took over for the late Alex Trebek.
“It is such a thrill to be here guesthosting a show I’ve watched and loved for years — and, of course, a real honor to help out as all of us recover from the loss of the truly irreplaceable Alex Trebek,” Couric said during her brief opening monologue. “Now, let’s have some fun. Are you ready contestants? Let’s do this thing!”
The media professional also announced on the show that “Jeopardy!” has pledged to match all of the winnings made by competitors during Couric’s hosting stint and donate the amount to Stand Up to Cancer’s pancreatic-cancer research team.
In November, longtime “Jeopardy!” emcee Trebek died after a battle with pancreatic cancer, as did Couric’s older sister.
Couric, who also lost her husband to cancer, helped launch Stand Up to Cancer, which has raised more than $600 million for disease research since 2008.
“I can’t think of anything more important than supporting cancer research,” Couric said in a recent interview for “Jeopardy!”
“It just means the world to me because it’s affected me so personally. And I know it probably means the world to everyone at ‘Jeopardy!’ who loved Alex Trebek.”