Mayim Bialik & Ken Jennings Named Permanent ‘Jeopardy’ Hosts
Who are Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik? Finally, ABC dropped the answer to who the new permanent host of ‘Jeopardy’ is on July 27, and it turns out it’s a two-person job!
Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik are the new hosts of Jeopardy! The former champion and the Big Bang Theory alumna were named the permanent hosts of the beloved game show by ABC on July 27. “I write today with the exciting news that we have closed and signed deals with Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings to be the hosts of Jeopardy! moving forward,” EP Michael Davies said in a statement.
“The fact is, we have so much Jeopardy! to make, and so many plans for the future, that we always knew we would need multiple hosts for the franchise and we are just so grateful that Mayim and Ken stepped in and stepped up to put the show in a position to succeed And succeed it has.” The statement continued, “Mayim and Ken are both extraordinarily talented and simply lovely humans. They support the staff and each other. They love and respect this institution of a television program. In return, the staff and I are honored to work alongside them.”
For the past year, Ken and Mayim were alternating as temporary hosts following the controversy involving former executive producer Mike Richards. In Aug. 2021, Mike was chosen as the permeant host, but he stepped down that same month following the discovery of past offensive comments. From there, the search for a permanent host went on and now we finally have a decision made!
Jeopardy! has been without a permanent host ever since the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in November 2020. Alex, an icon of the game show world as well as pop culture, had been fighting pancreatic cancer for nearly two years by the time he passed away. He was 80 years old when he died, leaving behind his beloved wife Jean Trebek and his three children.
Many famous faces stepped in to guest host Jeopardy! after Alex died. The group included Ken and Mayim, of course, as well as journalist Katie Couric, talk show host Dr. Mehmet Oz, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes correspondent Bill Whitataker, Today‘s Savannah Guthrie, neurosurgeon and CNN medical adviser Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Star Trek and Reading Rainbow star LeVar Burton, Good Morning America anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts, author and CNBC host David Faber, and sportscaster Joe Buck.
We can’t wait to see Ken and Mayim officially host Jeopardy! for good starting. They are going to continue to do an incredible job and make Alex proud.