Alex Trebek Reveals How He Ended up Being 'Jeopardy!' Host

Alex Trebek has opened up about how he ended up becoming the host of one of the most popular game shows, "Jeopardy!"

With the enthusiasm and raw talent he showcases on "Jeopardy!" one would never have known that it was never Alex Trebek's dream to become the game show's host.

According to Closer Weekly, the 79-year-old shared the untold story of how he became the show's host during an appearance on Paula Poundstone's "Nobody Listens" podcast.

[Alex Trebek] admitted that he went through "moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and sudden, massive attacks of great depression."

Noting that his career "happened by accident," Alex recalled that he had been working as a host for the High School quiz show known as "Reach for the Top" for the Canadian Broadcasting Company in Toronto.

Soon after "Reach for the Top" ended in 1970, Alex made his way to the United States, where he hosted some game shows, including "The Wizard of Odds" and "High Rollers."

Eventually, he landed "Jeopardy!" in 1984, and due to the small size of the crew, the TV personality had to handle different roles. Alex, who has been the show's host for 36 years, told Paula that:

"When we started I was the producer and I think we had six writers, two contestant coordinators, one researcher, a stage manager and myself."

The actor appeared to be in a better place since he announced in early 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer.

Closer Weekly reported in March that even though the disease went into remission for a short period, he had started undergoing chemotherapy treatments again.

In the one-year update which Alex gave his fans, he admitted that he went through "moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and sudden, massive attacks of great depression."

Despite the struggle he faced, the actor maintained that he was going to remain optimistic as anything else would have been "a massive betrayal" to his wife, Jean, and other cancer patients who looked at him as their hero.

Amid the story of Alex's health status, Hollywood Reporter pointed out that George Stephanopoulos was open to taking over from Alex when the time arrives.

The "Good Morning America" host was allegedly motivated by Howard Stern during a conversation that the duo had earlier this month.

While George refused to state if he would take the job if it was offered to him, he did note that his daughters were excited by Howard's opinion.