Who Can Forget Alex Trebek? Fox Nation honors the late Jeopardy host, relives the hardship of filling his shoes
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"Jeopardy!’s" Ken Jennings candidly compared game show hosts Alex Trebek and Pat Sajak.
During a podcast interview, Jennings, 49, told actor Justin Long how "brilliant" Sajak, 77, was at interacting with contestants on the beloved game show "Wheel of Fortune."
"Alex was such a genius at being the host of ‘Jeopardy!’ you really cannot do better than that… But as a kid I was always like, 'Pat's more fun, Pat jokes around with the three people,'" Jennings said on the "Life is Short" podcast.
‘JEOPARDY!’ STAR KEN JENNINGS ON THE BEST ADVICE ALEX TREBEK EVER GAVE HIM
Ken Jennings called "Wheel of Fortune" host Pat Sajak "more fun" than Alex Trebek. (Getty Images)
"I'm a little more of a Pat Sajak where I'm like if I say one more thing, please end it with a joke," he continued of his own hosting style. "Whereas Alex was very much like 'OK, helium balloons, all right. How about you?'" he described Trebek's interactions with contestants.
Kennings added, "I want to make it less painful than it was for me as a viewer."
Pat Sajak announced he's retiring from "Wheel of Fortune" after the current season. (Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images)
His comments come on the heels of the third anniversary of the iconic game show host’s death.
Trebek died in 2020 from pancreatic cancer, but his "Jeopardy!" legacy lives on. He was 80.
‘JEOPARDY!’ PRODUCER DISCOVERED ALEX TREBEK ‘ON THE FLOOR, CRYING IN PAIN’ DURING CANCER BATTLE
Late "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek died in 2020 from pancreatic cancer. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
The longtime game show host announced in March 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and continued to update fans on his condition as he underwent treatment. He vowed to continue hosting and doing the job that he loved for as long as humanly possible.
Trebek hosted "Jeopardy!" since 1984, presiding over more than 8,000 episodes. He routinely talked about how much he loved hosting the popular game show and even credited the fans with helping him throughout his treatment.
MAYIM BIALIK REPLACED BY KEN JENNINGS AS ‘CELEBRITY JEOPARDY!' HOST AS HOLLYWOOD STRIKE CONTINUES
Former "Jeopardy!" champion Jennings and "The Big Bang Theory" actress Mayim Bialik were named the new hosts of the popular game show after the death of Trebek.
Earlier this year, Jennings previously revealed that he spoke with Trebek just hours before he passed away.
Former "Jeopardy!" champion Jennings and "The Big Bang Theory" actress Mayim Bialik were named the new "Jeopardy!" hosts after the death of Trebek. (Jeopardy Productions via Getty Images)
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"I actually ended up talking to him what turned out to be the night before the day he passed away about guest hosting for him," Jennings explained on "The Last Podcast on the Left" in August.
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"We didn’t know," he continued. "We thought ‘Oh he’s going to get better, he’s going to bounce back, he’ll be hosting again.' I was just going to fill in."
Ken Jennings took over hosting duties for "Celebrity Jeopardy!" from Mayim Bialik. (Christopher Willard/ABC via Getty Images/Tyler Golden/ABC via Getty Images)
Describing their conversation, Jennings said, "We talked about the game, and, you know, he gave me the impression he always did over the years, which was that he did not want to be the center of attention on ‘Jeopardy!’"
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Jennings explained that Trebek was never interested in the attention that came from hosting the show, even saying that he called himself the host of the show instead of the star because "he thought the game itself and the contestants should be the star."
Fox News Digital's Emily Trainham contributed to this report.
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