George Stephanopoulos, 59, would potentially be down to host Jeopardy! If the opportunity ever presents itself. As of right now, there are no plans for current host, Alex Trebek, to actually leave the show. However, when the day does come, George is admittedly interested in the position, he told Howard Stern during an interview on the host’s SiriusXM radio show on May 13. Howard pointed out that he thinks George would have the “intellectual capacity” to host the game show, which has been done by Alex since 1984.
“I think it would be a lot of fun, but I like what I’m doing, too,” George, who co-hosts Good Morning America and works as a chief anchor for ABC News, said. “I am not going to be Shermanesque about it. It’s a great show. It’s very flattering. Big shoes to fill.” Howard urged George to consider it, though. He pointed out that hosting Jeopardy! certainly wouldn’t “damage [George’s] reputation” because it’s “for brighter people” and would “make [him] look good.”
In March 2019, Alex revealed that he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. He vowed to fight the disease, despite a poor prognosis. By that May, he updated fans to let them know that he was responding well to treatment. In March 2020, one year after his diagnosis, he revealed that he would be continuing vicious chemotherapy treatments to fight to survive for his family.
Production on Jeopardy! was shut down amidst the coronavirus pandemic. However, there will be a month of new episodes airing beginning on Monday, May 18, all of which were filmed before the production shutdown. Two weeks will be dedicated to the Teachers Tournament, while the other two weeks will include normal episodes featuring returning players. Alex served as host for all of the previously-filmed episodes. Jeopardy! plans to announce plans for a summer schedule in the upcoming weeks.