Who is Betty White?
That is “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek’s answer to the question he has increasingly received during his battle with pancreatic cancer.
The 79-year-old, who will turn 80 on Wednesday, said as much during an interview with “Good Morning America,” telling the program that because the audience has wanted his successor to be younger, he’s going the opposite way and appointing the 98-year-old pop culture icon to host the beloved quiz show.
“I joke with the audience all the time and I say, ‘Betty White,’ because they want somebody younger, somebody funnier,” Trebek said.
An avid watcher of “Jeopardy!,” White explained to the New York Post in 2018 why she enjoys the program. “First, it’s such a good game and, second, I happen to have a huge crush on the host, Alex Trebek,” she admitted.
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During his sit-down with the variety news show, Trebek also spoke to the changes coming to the competition quiz series — when it resumes production — that adhere to the social distancing guidelines.
“We’ve redesigned our set to separate the contestants and myself a little bit more from them,” he shared. “So we are taking all kinds of precautions. Our testing procedure now is done online.”
The program will also film five episodes per day, twice a week, but that could change.
“We’ll do three and take a short break, and then do the last two. And we’ll see how that goes, and if it’s too much for me, we can always cut back a little bit, maybe do four a day,” he said.
In January, at the Television Critics Association winter press tour, 360aproko News asked the 79-year-old what he wishes his legacy to be and he said that he simply wanted to be remembered as “a nice guy,” and that “he was the best kind of quiz show host in that he always seemed to be rooting for the contestants.”
‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek said he wants Betty White, 98, to succeed him as host of the competition quiz show. (Reuters)
Eager to get back to work despite “Jeopardy!” not yet seeing a return date, Trebek described the program as “the best kind of reality television” in his “GMA” interview.
“And people watch it, and if they come up with one or two correct responses in that half-hour, they feel pretty good about themselves,” he said. “And that’s great.”
