Opening up for the first time over the beloved 'Jeopardy!' host's November 2020 death from pancreatic cancer, Jean Trebek admits that she misses 'him a lot.'
- Apr 29, 2021
AceShowbiz - Alex Trebek's widow has finally ready to talk about losing the beloved "Jeopardy!" host. Nearly six months after her husband died from pancreatic cancer, Jean Trebek opened up for the first time about coming to term with the loss, and admitted that she still has "moments of waves of grief."
The businesswoman sat down for an exclusive interview which will be aired on Saturday, April 31 at 8 P.M. ET on NBC and Telemundo. Speaking to Savannah Guthrie, the 57-year-old assured she is now in "good" condition. "I think right now, talking with you, I'm good. You know? I'm good," she elaborated.
In the chat that comes as a part of NBC News' "Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List", Jean went on to say that the loss of Alex still affected her from time to time. "I absolutely have moments of waves of grief that just come over me, I miss him a lot," she confessed.
During the chat, Jean additionally noted that Alex was inspired by fans' support to bravely fight against cancer. "I think one of the beautiful things, the blessings that came, if you can call it a blessing, was that he got to really see the outpouring of love and admiration that he gave to the world," she noted.
"And I know that that was in and of itself a huge inspiration for Alex," Jean continued. She then recalled the one moment when a contestant named Dhruv Gaur wrote "We (heart) you Alex!" instead of an answer during a November 2019 episode of the quiz show.
"When that contestant wrote that, you know, you could see him, like, 'Oh, don't make me cry here but I love it,' " she said. "And I think that meant the world to him."
Alex passed away at the age of 80 in November 2020. He first announced his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March 2019. Through an online video, the Emmy-winning host said, "Just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this, and I'm going to keep working."
"I plan to beat the low survival-rate statistics for this disease," he continued. "Truth told, I have to! Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host 'Jeopardy!' for three more years! So help me. Keep the faith and we'll win. We'll get it done."