Alex Trebek Hopes A Woman Will Replace Him On ‘Jeopardy!’ When He Retires

Alex Trebek has been the host of the popular trivia show Jeopardy! for a whopping 36 years. It’s hard to imagine anyone else taking on his role. However, as Trebek is now 79-years-old and in the middle of battling stage four pancreatic cancer, he knows his days on the show are likely limited. Thus, he’s put some thought into who will replace him after he retires, and he suspects it will be a woman, according to Fatherly.

Trebek recently sat down for a panel at an event promoting the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time special show. It was then that he gave some insight into his speculations regarding who his replacement will be.

“When people ask me who I’d like to see replace me, I say, ‘Well, it’s probably going to be a woman and she’ll have to be bright. She’ll have to have a good sense of humor.” Trebek said.

Of course, Trebek has been adamant that while he may have opinions regarding his replacement, he really doesn’t have any say in who will be chosen.

He joked that Betty White would be a good fit for the role. Of course, given the fact that White is currently 98-years-old, this appears to be pretty unlikely.

Trebek hasn’t identified when exactly his last day on the show will be because he doesn’t know yet. He wants to continue on as long as he is able, his health permitting. However, his cancer is extremely serious and there is a low survival rate for it. While he will continue to fight, he has accepted that he might not get to remain the host of the show for as long as he’d like.

Given his condition, Trebek has put some thought into what he hopes his legacy will be after he leaves the show, As The Inquisitr previously reported. He hopes that people will have learned from him and from the show about the “benefits of knowledge.” He believes that continuing to learn helps one become a better person and allows them to have a better perspective upon life, he explained.

“Even though you are not going to use a particular bit of knowledge, information that you acquire — even though you’re not going to be able to use it in a practical way in your daily life or in your work life or at home, whatever — it becomes part of you. It enriches you and makes you a better human being and, I think, a more understanding human being.”