Robin Roberts says hosting Jeopardy! is 'not easy,' despite how Alex Trebek 'made it look'

This Good Morning America anchor is about to serve as one of the last Jeopardy! guest hosts. Who is Robin Roberts?

Roberts on Monday is set to debut as the latest guest host of Jeopardy! following the death of Alex Trebek. She'll get behind the lectern for one week after her Good Morning America co-host, George Stephanopoulos, most recently did the same. In an interview on the show's YouTube channel, Roberts reflected on what it meant to be on the show's iconic stage, saying, "My mother and father are cheering me on from their heavenly balcony." When asked what she hoped to bring to her week of episodes, Roberts became emotional as she explained she hoped to channel Trebek's spirit.

"I just want to bring a little bit of Alex," she said. "Just a little bit. Can't be him, no one can be him, but just want to bring a little bit of the spirit that he brought each and every time he was here in this studio."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

In a clip from Jeopardy! shown on Good Morning America, Roberts honored "the great Alex Trebek" while adding that "his spirit is very much here." Roberts also acknowledged on GMA, though, that she was "really, really nervous" about hosting the show and that doing so is "not easy," despite how Trebek "made it look" for decades. But she added that she ended up leaving the studio with "a bit more confidence in myself that I put myself out there," and she thanked the crew for their hard work and for "continuing his legacy."

Jeopardy! has been making use of a series of rotating guest hosts beginning in January after Trebek died in November 2020 following a battle with cancer. After Roberts, the show has only three more guest hosts scheduled — ​​LeVar Burton, David Faber, and Joe Buck — as the highly-anticipated announcement about who will be tapped for the permanent gig looms.