Alex Trebek shares inspiring message for those diagnosed with cancer
Alex Trebek really is the GOAT.
The “Jeopardy!” host has been fighting pancreatic cancer for almost a year now, but the 79-year-old is still in great spirits, according to a new interview in which he praises fans for helping him cope with his diagnosis.
Trebek spoke with local Pittsburgh news station WPXI and said the “great outpouring of warmth and prayerful thoughts coming from people all over America” has been a “great help” since he announced his stage 4 diagnosis last March.
“Some people would say, ‘That’s a bad deal that Alex has got,'” he said. “But there are a lot of people out there who have been informed that they have cancer, they have heart problems, serious other diseases, they have Parkinson’s, whatever, you name it. But they have to deal with it, and that’s what I have to [do].”
Channel 11 anchor Jennifer Tomazic, who interviewed him on the set of “Jeopardy!” in Culver City, California, wrote that “you wouldn’t know he’s in a fight for his life by watching Alex Trebek at work.”
“Many close to him say he’s the first one in the office, at 6 a.m. some days, reading through all the questions and answers and meeting with producers,” she wrote, adding that he was “on point during the tapings” and “had a quick wit for the audience’s questions during commercial breaks.”
She added that he keeps a glass case at the studio that was “spilling over with letters and other well wishes for Trebek from fans around the world.”
Trebek, who has been the host of “Jeopardy!” since 1984, said he’s been “humbled” and had “no idea that our show and myself had such an impact on the lives of so many people out there.”
Both he and producers have said they’re unsure who his replacement will be after he leaves the iconic game show, which he plans to continue hosting as long as his skills don’t “diminish.” He recently crowned “Jeopardy” contestant extraordinaire Ken Jennings as the champ in the Greatest of all Time (GOAT) competition.
Trebek also took time in the interview to share a message for anyone who’s currently battling cancer: “Let’s both agree that we’re going to become survivors.”