MAYIM CHASES KEN JENNINGS OFF JEOPARDY!
Big Bang geek is now game show’s undisputed queen
BIG Bang Theory brainiac Mayim Bialik has finally pushed rival cohost Ken Jennings out of the race for permanent host of Jeopardy! — leading the shaken fan favorite to request a six-month leave!
“I’m handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) @missmayim for a few months,” tweets Ken, 48. “We are lucky to have her! Thanks for watching, and I’ll be back before the end of the season.”
And while it seems the path is clear now for Mayim, 46, to grab the reins of full-time hosting duties, vexed viewers are ripping the iconic show for not giving the gig to Ken, who insiders say was legendary host Alex Trebek’s preferred choice!
One social media poster writes: “Come on, @ Jeopardy, just give him the job already.”
Another furious fan chimed in to Ken: “I wish you would get the job full time. You are the heart and soul of the show now. You’re a fantastic host.”
As GLOBE has reported, Bialik and Jennings have been sharing hosting duties uneasily on the show since former producer Mike Richards shockingly handed himself the job last summer — only to be sacked when scandals in his past resurfaced!
While Ken and Mayim are publicly supportive of each other, sources claim Bialik consistently lobbied producers for full-time hosting duties and quietly criticized her rival, who wowed viewers after
notching a record 74-episode win streak in 2004!
“Ken desperately wanted the gig and thought being Alex’s choice and having the support of the fans, it would be his,” snitches an insider. “But after the Richards fiasco and months of empty promises, he could see the writing on the wall and is taking time off to consider other possibilities!”
Meanwhile, fans have grown restless over the delay in naming Alex’s permanent successor and have been critical of Mayim’s performance.
“Get Mayim Bialik off the show! She’s losing viewers!” rages one.
But sources say execs have always preferred Mayim, especially after Ken’s insensitive internet messages surfaced from the past — including a dig poking fun at a disabled person!
“They hoped the fans would grow to love Mayim, but the fans have stuck with Ken and now they may never get him back,” spills a source.
“Mayim may have won, but the show may have lost!”