Jeopardy! has been a television and pop culture staple for decades and that’s largely due to longtime host Alex Trebek. Trebek has hosted the daily syndicated game show since 1984, but it was a moment during Monday night’s episode of Jeopardy! that may have best communicated just how beloved Trebek is — and also moved the host to tears.
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During Final Jeopardy! one of the contestants, Dhruv Gaur used his answer to the final clue to express his love for Trebek — and yes, he did it in the form of a question. The heartfelt moment came when Trebek checked Gaur’s response and read it aloud as it came on screen. You can check out the touching moment below.
Alex Trebek getting choked up at a heartfelt final jeopardy answer. The instant welling up of tears and emotion no viewer expected to have tonight. 🥺 what a moment. #weloveyoualex pic.twitter.com/DVcMGKl8wj
— Kelli Kubicek (@Kelli96) November 12, 2019
“Did you come up with the right one? No?” Trebek asked. “What is we love you Alex. That’s very kind, thank you.”
He then noticed that Gaur’s bet left him with only $5 and became choked up.
“Cost you $1995. You’re left with five bucks,” Trebek said.
According to Gaur, the reason he did what he did was because Trebek had just told the contestants that day that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer and while he could have actually tried to get the correct answer, he just wanted to show the host how much people care about him.
“Sorry for west coast spoilers, but I’m really glad I got the opportunity to say to Alex what everybody at the tournament was thinking… for context, Alex had just shared with us that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer. We were all hurting for him so badly.” Gaur wrote. “When Final Jeopardy came up, I could’ve tried to puzzle it together, but really, just kept thinking about Alex, and thought he should know.”
Back in March, Trebek was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer and began aggressive treatment that he was, by his account, responding well to. In August, he announced that completed treatment, but in September broke the news that he was once again undergoing chemotherapy. At the time, he explained the situation to Good Morning America.
“I was doing so well, and my numbers went down to the equivalent of a normal human being who does not have pancreatic cancer, so we were all very optimistic,” Trebek said at the time. “They said, ‘Good, we’re going to stop chemo, we’ll start you on immunotherapy,’ and I lost about 12 lbs. in a week and my numbers went sky-high, much higher than they were when I was first diagnosed.”
While there were some rumors that Trebek would be leaving Jeopardy!, Trebek himself told CTV News in Canada that he will step away only when his abilities diminish to the point that fans and producers truly notice.
“I will keep doing it as long as my skills do not diminish, and they have started to diminish,” Trebek said. “I’m sure there are observant members of the television audience that notice also, but they’re forgiving. But there will come a point when [fans and producers] will no longer be able to say, ‘Its okay.’”
What did you think of the touching moment on Monday night’s Jeopardy!? Let us know in the comments below.
