Ken Jennings reveals he nearly lost his initial Jeopardy! game as fans realize he likely never would have been host

Ken Jennings is now the singular host after Mayim Bialik was fired

JEOPARDY! frontman Ken Jennings has revealed that a pivotal moment almost torpedoed his legacy as both its longest-running champion and host.

Ken, 49, made the startling confession about his 74-time winning streak that nearly wasn’t with CBS Sunday Morning.

Ken Jennings revealed that a Final Jeopardy ruling his way was the only reason he won his first gameCredit: CBS Sunday Morning

Fans reacted, ‘It’s crazy,’ and ‘Things would be so different today’Credit: Jeopardy!
The Jeopardy! host is currently presiding over one of the most nail-biting Tournament of Champions finals ever.

But way back in 2004 he was just “a bad computer programmer,” as he told CBS when he first stepped foot on the stage as a contestant.

Ken would go on to win 74 consecutive Jeopardy! games, which is the standing record, and eventually become Alex Trebek’s successor.

In the sitdown video interview at Ken’s $3m Seattle mansion, he revealed his first win was no runaway.

It all came down to Final Jeopardy and then-host Alex Trebek nearly didn’t accept his response.

The Final Jeopardy! answer was, “She’s the first female track & field athlete to win medals in five different events at a single Olympics.”

Ken responded with “Who is Jones?” using only the last name of Marion Jones.

‘ALEX PAUSES’

“I remember Alex accepting my response; it was about the Sydney Olympics: Who was Marion Jones?” Ken told CBS.

“And I had just written down, Who is Jones? And Alex pauses for a second, like, ‘Ooh, is that enough? Is he just guessing a last name?’

“And so, Alex looks to the judges, and he gets the high sign, and he says, ‘That’s correct.’

“And I realize, ‘I’m gonna be a ‘Jeopardy!’ champion for the rest of my life! And it was just an immediate rush of euphoria that, it’s hard to explain.

“As good as the birth of my kids (I can say that now that they’re teens and outta the house). It was just an amazing moment.”

As CBS wrote, that “microsecond decision” led to the standing record of 74 straight victories, $2.5 million, “game show immortality”, and eventually the job of host.

‘CRAZY’

Fans realized if Alex had ruled the other way, Ken would have never been a Jeopardy! champ and likely never been host.

“It would have been his only, and long-forgotten, appearance …” one social media user wrote.

“It’s so strange to think about how we were a judge’s ruling away from Ken just being a footnote in the annals of Jeopardy history,” wrote another fan on Reddit.

“Its interesting to think how things would be so different today if Ken lost that very first game in 2004. Im glad it worked out this way,” wrote a third.

“It’s crazy, you wonder if Ken hadn’t spawned that, do we get the resurrection of Brad, or does he just go down in the annals as yet-another-5-day-champion?

“Do we get the Watson tournament? The GOAT? Which then spawns off into our current Masters tournament? It’s pretty amazing what came about because of that one ruling.

“How many female “Jones” other than Marion competed in Athletics at the 2000 Sydney Olympics? (Ken’s 1st episode was taped prior to the 2004 Athens Olympics & Olympic Qualifiers)” wondered a fourth.

KEN TALKS MAYIM EXIT

In July 2022, following a scandal-ridden host hunt Ken and Mayim Bialik and were announced as co-hosts starting with season 39.

However, in December, Mayim was abruptly let go from Jeopardy!, making the former champion the sole host.

Ken spoke at length about the huge shakeup in a recent interview with USA Today.

“I’m not blowing smoke here. I really enjoyed Mayim’s hosting.

“You could tell she was just a born performer, very confident on stage in a way that I was not at first.

“I learned a lot from watching her, and I really enjoyed her hosting.

“But I do understand [the decision] – there’s a reason why TV shows don’t tend to have two hosts.”

BYE-ALIK

On December 15, 2023, Mayim broke the Internet when she announced that she was fired from Jeopardy! personally on Instagram.

“As the Holiday break begins in Hollywood, I have some Jeopardy! news,” she began her post.

“Sony has informed me that I will no longer be hosting the syndicated version of Jeopardy!

“I am incredibly honored to have been nominated for a primetime Emmy for hosting this year and am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been part of the Jeopardy! family.

“For all of you who have supported me through this journey and to the fans, contestants, writers, staff of America’s favorite quiz show, thank you.”

JEOPARDY!’S STATEMENT

About an hour later, the official Jeopardy! Instagram page confirmed the news.

“We have made the decision to have one host for the syndicated show next season to maintain continuity for our viewers,” the statement said.

They went on to say that Ken, 49, will be the sole host of the show.

“We are truly grateful for all of Mayim’s contributions to Jeopardy!, and we hope to work with her in the future on primetime specials,” the game show wrote.

Mayim has since removed “co-host @jeopardy” from her Instagram bio.