'Jeopardy!' Fans Protest After Ken Jennings Reveals Mayim Bialik's Future on the Show
Ken Jennings is saying goodbye to Jeopardy! fans — for now.
After a few close calls, Jeopardy! champion Mattea Roach was defeated during Final Jeopardy on May 6 and ended her 23-game winning streak on the quiz show. The next day, Ken took to Twitter to celebrate the Canadian competitor on her exciting accomplishment. What’s more, he snuck in news about his future on the show. According to the Jeopardy! legend, Mattea’s last in-season game also marked the end of his latest hosting run. Ken informed viewers that he would be making way for the return of Mayim Bialik.
“I'm handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) @missmayim for a few months,” he wrote. “We are lucky to have her! Thanks for watching, and I'll be back before the end of the season.”
I'm handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) @missmayim for a few months. We are lucky to have her! Thanks for watching, and I'll be back before the end of the season.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) May 7, 2022
When Jeopardy! first announced in December that Ken and Mayim would be dividing hosting duties through the end of season 38, the trivia show began switching between them every few weeks. Now Ken is the first to reveal that he’ll be behind the camera for a longer period of time than usual, but he stopped short of sharing a specific return date.
Without skipping a beat, Jeopardy! fans immediately started spilling their thoughts on the host change. Many expressed their disappointment and broached the topic of Jeopardy! picking a permanent host.
“No, no, and NO! When are they going to give you permanent keys Ken? You do a much more professional job - most worthy of filling Alex’s shoes! ❤️,” one person wrote. “Wait, what?? You must be joking, right? You are the best new host to perform the job. Come back soon, the sooner the better,” another added. “For a few MONTHS?? Guess I won't be watching for that long, then (unless another superchamp comes along). 😃👍,” a different fan said.
So, when will Ken return to Jeopardy!? If we had to guess it would be in the middle of the summer. At the end of last year, Deadline reported that season 38 is scheduled to run until July 29. Given the “months” clue, he might come back to the quiz show in early July, but this information hasn’t been confirmed.
Until then, Mayim will be standing at the lectern, where she also hopes to stay as permanent host. Regardless of what happens, there’s a lot to look forward to in the Jeopardy! universe, including the 2022 Tournament of Champions with Mattea.
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