Much of the pop culture world breathed a collective sigh of relief on Thursday, when it was announced that Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek will be returning for the show’s 36th season. The news came after Trebek’s future on the series was briefly in question, after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis earlier this year. As Trebek revealed in a video, which you can check out above, he has since completed chemotherapy and is already beginning to work on the new season.
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“I’ve gone through a lot of chemotherapy and thankfully that is now over.” Trebek revealed in the video. “I’m on the mend and that’s all I can hope for right now.”
The video also previews what fans can expect in the new season, which began taping in late July.
“We have some exciting things coming up and I can’t wait to share them with all of you,” he says. “Let me tell you, it’s going to be a good year.”
Back in March, Trebek posted a video announcing that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. The news sent the Internet into a sort of dismay at the time, as Trebek has been an institution as the host of Jeopardy! since 1984. While the news briefly sparked rumors that the show would be looking for a replacement Jeopardy! host, Trebek offered some words of positivity about his future.
“Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working… with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.” Trebek said in March. “So help me. Keep the faith and we’ll win. We’ll get it done. Thank you… “I have to: because under the terms of my contract, I have to host ‘Jeopardy!’ for three more years!”
In May, Trebek announced that he was in near-remission for the disease, and that the well-wishes from the Jeopardy public played a significant role in that.
“It’s kind of mind-boggling,” Trebek revealed. “The doctors said they hadn’t seen this kind of positive result in their memory…some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50 percent.”
“I’ve got a couple million people out there who have expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy directed towards me and their prayers,” Trebek said. “I told the doctors, this has to be more than just the chemo, and they agreed it could very well be an important part of this. I’ve got a lot of love out there headed in my direction and a lot of prayer, and I will never ever minimize the value of that.”
What do you think of the latest update in Alex Trebek’s time on Jeopardy!? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
