After longtime Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek passed away in November 2020, the show began making plans to continue without him.
Trebek had pre-filmed enough episodes to last for two months after his passing. His final episode aired on January 8, 2021.
After Trebek’s episodes ran out, the show began introducing a series of guest hosts. Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings kicked things off as the first guest host on the show.
Jennings was praised for paying tribute to Trebek during his first episode as guest host. He continued to host for weeks, and most viewers seemed to enjoy seeing him lead the show.
Since Jennings’ run as guest host, others who have stepped up to lead Jeopardy! include Dr. Oz, Aaron Rodgers, and Anderson Cooper.
Knowing that Jeopardy! has chosen guest hosts from a variety of backgrounds, viewers have pushed for some of their favorite celebrities to get the chance to host the show. But no celebrity received more support than actor LeVar Burton.
Burton is known for his roles in projects such as Star Trek: The Next Generation and Roots. He was also the beloved host of the children’s television program Reading Rainbow, which aired for 21 seasons over the course of 23 years.
Jeopardy! fans’ desire to see Burton host the show didn’t come out of the blue. He was vocal about wanting to be one of the next guests hosts.
“I’ve had my eye on that job for a long time,” Burton said in one interview before it was officially announced he’d be guest hosting the show.
https://twitter.com/BNCNews/status/1380683320195973123
Fans went so far as to create and sign a Change.org petition in support of having Burton host Jeopardy! (As of press time, the petition has over 247,000 signatures).
But many don’t want to settle for Burton being a guest host…they want him to be the new permanent host of the show!
For now, Burton is celebrating the fact he finally gets the chance to host Jeopardy!, even if it won’t be a permanent position.
“THANK YOU… to all y’all for your passionate support! I am overjoyed, excited, and eager to be guest-hosting Jeopardy!, and will do my utmost best to live up to your faith you in me,” Burton said on social media. You can read his celebratory post below.
In addition to Burton, others who will guest host Jeopardy! in the future include George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, David Faber, and Joe Buck.
Burton’s fans were overjoyed to hear he will be hosting Jeopardy! We can’t wait to see him on the show!