Alex Trebek says he'll retire from Jeopardy! 'on a whim'
Facebook/Jeopardy


For more than 30 years, Alex Trebek has served as the host of Jeopardy! — but all good things must come to an end. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Trebek acknowledges that the job is his as long as he wants it, but that his retirement could be on the horizon. "When it happens it will probably happen the same way it happened when I shaved my mustache in 2001: It will happen on a whim," said Trebek. "I will decide at that moment, 'This is it. Leave me an extra 30 seconds at the end of the program so I can say goodbye.'"
"I told audiences and interviewers in the past that I will stick with it as long as I'm having a good time and as long as I feel my skills haven't diminished too much. They have diminished somewhat; I'm slower than I used to be. There are times when I have what I call senior moments, little skips in the brain process, and I understand that. But hopefully the audience is going to continue to be very forgiving of those kinds of mistakes, and I can see myself going on." [The Hollywood Reporter]
For more on Alex Trebek — including his suggestions for potential Jeopardy! successors and his strange breakfast habits — click over to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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