Jeopardy!championBrad Rutteris recalling a time that late hostAlex Trebekdecided to play a light prank on his contestants.
During a radio appearance onWOGLThursday, Rutter reminisced on theJeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Championsin 2005, during which he competed against fellow starsKen Jenningsand Jerome Vered.
“We were so nervous, we were just all pale as a ghost,” Rutter said of the experience.
To “cut the tension,” he said one of them jokingly suggested that they participate in the show without pants on.
Eric McCandless via Getty (2)
“What we didn’t know was that our mics were live, and Alex heard us,” Rutter said.
When the announcer introduced Trebek, the longtime host decided to have some fun with the three competitors. “Alex came out with no pants on,” Rutter recalled.
Rutter added that Trebek’s sense of humor came out “even more so in person than you would see on the show.”
“You’re really just not allowed to talk about much,” he told WOGL of being onJeopardy!“I was lucky enough to be on the show so often that I got to know Alex a little.”
Alex Trebek.Eric McCandless/ABC
Trebekdiedin November at age 80 after suffering fromstage 4 pancreatic cancer.Jeopardy!beganairing the final episodes with Trebek as hoston Monday. He finished taping his last shows on Oct. 29 — just 10 days before he died.
Though his final episode wasoriginally set to air on Christmas Day, the showannouncedat the end of November that it would instead air “10 of his best episodes” the weeks of Dec. 21 and Dec. 28. His last week of shows were held until the New Year “in order to give his millions of fans a chance to see his final appearances,” the show said in a press release.
“Though a long-term replacement host will not be named at this time,Jeopardy!will return to the studio with a series of interim guest hosts from within theJeopardy!family, starting with Ken Jennings,” said the ABC show, whichresumed production on Nov. 30, in a statement.
source: people.com
