Don’t Expect Alex Trebek To Be A ‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Anytime Soon

Alex Trebek is looking to start his 31st year as host of the long-running game show, Jeopardy! During an interview with ABC 7 in Chicago, Trebek was asked if, after all of these years, he may put himself in the contestants’ section. He told the reporter that audiences shouldn’t expect that anytime soon.

“I’m older now; my reflexes are a lot slower,” Trebek said. “I couldn’t play the games as well.”

Trebek also mentioned that he has “forgotten a lot of stuff.”

“My memory isn’t what it used to be,” he added. “I can’t recall [things] as quickly as I used to.”

In a related report from The Inquisitr, Alex Trebek shattered the Guinness World Record of “most game shows hosted by the same presenter.” The 74-year-old Trebek said it is an “honor” to hold that record, and he knows he didn’t get there by himself.

“We have had incredible support from our viewers for the past 30 years, and, without them, I wouldn’t have set this record,” he noted at the time.

Back in May, Alex Trebek told The Hollywood Reporter that he plans to continue hosting Jeopardy! until he feels his skills have “diminished too much.”

“They have diminished somewhat; I’m slower than I used to be,” he added. “There are times when I have what I call senior moments, little skips in the brain process, and I understand that.”

There was one incident in which an audience member asked Alex Trebek had thought about retiring. Trebek told the person that he had thought about it, and that led to a media frenzy.

“All of a sudden, it got blown out of proportion, and I was retiring,” he recalled. “But that wasn’t the case, and I’m happy doing what I’m doing, and I’ll keep doing It for a while – I don’t know how long.”

Alex Trebek knows that there will come a time when he decides that he can no longer host Jeopardy!. When that time arrives, Trebek said, “It will happen on a whim.”

“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,'” he added.

When he does leave, Alex Trebek said he has a good feeling that the show will continue to do well with someone else as the host.

“It’s a good show; it will survive,” he said.

One person that Alex Trebek feels could do well in his shoes is Brad Rutter, a Battle of the Decades tournament contestant.

“He’s got a good sense of humor and certainly broad-based knowledge that will help him immensely,” Trebek noted. “And he has the credentials – he’s won two of our big tournaments: 1 million and 2 million dollars.”

[Image credited to Carol Kaelson — CBS via Time]