‘That’s been a great help to me’: ‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek describes the ‘humbling’ support of fans amid cancer battle

LOS ANGELES, Calif. — You wouldn’t know he’s in a fight for his life by watching Alex Trebek at work. Many close to him say he’s the first one in the office, at 6 a.m. some days, reading through all the questions and answers and meeting with producers.

Jennifer Tomazic, an anchor from WPXI, Channel 9′s sister station, spent the day on the set of “Jeopardy!” in Culver City, California. She said Trebek was on point during the tapings she watched and he had a quick wit for the audience’s questions during commercial breaks.

READ: Alex Trebek after cancer diagnosis: ‘It’s no longer an open-ended life’

Since March 2019, Trebek has been fighting a very public battle with pancreatic cancer. In fact, she said what really caught her eye at the studio was a glass case spilling over with letters and other well wishes for Trebek from fans around the world.

“Some people would say that’s a bad deal that Alex has got. But there are a lot of people out there who have been informed that they have cancer, they have heart problems, serious other diseases, they have Parkinson’s, whatever, you name it. But they have to deal with it and that’s what I have to,” said Trebek during a recent one-on-one interview. “But they don’t have that great outpouring of warmth and prayerful thoughts coming from people all over America and that’s been a great help to me.”

READ: Alex Trebek has mentally rehearsed final ‘Jeopardy!’ episode

Tomazic read Facebook comments to Trebek from Pittsburghers. They were in response to a recent post about him on the WPXI Facebook page. Click here to read Trebek’s responses.

Watch “Jeopardy!” weeknights at 7 p.m. on WFTV Channel 9.

READ: ‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek makes ‘unforgettable’ call to autistic man, his mother

© 2020 Cox Media Group