So far, every Jeopardy! guest host has stood behind the host’s lectern for two weeks. But that all changes with George Stephanopoulos.
The Good Morning America co-host will only get a week to prove his mettle as Jeopardy! host. All of the remaining hosts will also only get a week. That includes LeVar Burton, who has been lobbying heavily for the job since Alex Trebek’s death late last year.
Robin Roberts, Stephanopoulos’ co-host on Good Morning America will take the reins next week. You can see the full list of guest hosts here.
Jeopardy! producers haven’t said why they switched to only offering the final guest hosts one-week stints instead of two. But the show likely hopes to see as many potential replacements for Trebek as possible before making their decision.
That decision must be coming soon.
Jeopardy! finished filming this season and will begin filming the new episodes in August. The new host will need to be selected by then.
Stephanopoulos will be raising money for Share Our Strength’s No Kid Hungry campaign. The nonprofit hopes to eradicate childhood poverty and food insecurity.
“We can make progress on this. They’re doing it every day. I know the fact that we talked about it on Jeopardy!, the fact that those contestants raise so much money for that campaign is going to make a big difference. I’m incredibly grateful for that.”
Stephanopoulos Said He Wants the ‘Jeopardy!’ Gig
In the months leading up to Trebek’s death, Stephanopoulos said on The Howard Stern Show that he would like to replace Trebek one day, the New York Post said. Then shortly after Trebek’s death, The Wrap reported Stephanopoulos was “actively” pursuing the Jeopardy! job. However, ABC said he wasn’t pursuing the open slot.
He may not want it now, however, after seeing how hard the job actually is. Trebek made it look easy, but there are so many moving pieces that must glide with precision.
“Moving things along,” Stephanopoulos told Good Morning America. “They really just want everything to just keep going, going, going, going. And then if you stumble, now the dirty little secret is- you ever notice that the host isn’t on camera all that much? When you make a mistake you can redo the clue.”
They even showed a video of Stephanopoulos looking exhausted in between shows. “This is a lot harder than it looks,” he tells the crew.
But regardless, he’s happy for the opportunity.
“I actually never imagined that I would one day be on the stage as a guest host,” he told Jeopardy! producers. “It was a thrill enough for me the time I was … a response on ‘Jeopardy!’ But the chance to be a guest host was just really, really fun. I just feel lucky to have had it.”
