“Danger!” Host Alex Trebek has chosen his unlikely successor: Betty White.
Last year, the 79-year-old game show host made the grim announcement that he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Although he has not voiced any official retirement plans in the midst of his health battle, he joked that if to back off, he wants White, the pop culture favorite, to replace him.
“I joke around with the public all the time and say ‘Betty White’ because they want someone younger, someone more fun,” said Trebek, who turns 80 on Wednesday, “Good Morning America.”
White is a lifelong friend, and over the years the two have shared funny jokes and flirts. In 2018, White told The Post that he likes to watch “Jeopardy!” because, “First, it’s such a good game, and second, I’m in love with the host, Alex Trebek.”
White has been in business even longer than his celebrity crush, for 70 years. She is best known for “The Mary Tyler Moore” show (1973-1977), “The Golden Girls” (1985-1992), and “Hot in Cleveland” (2010-2015). And it hasn’t slowed down in its silver years, as it will star in an upcoming Lifetime Christmas movie, which currently has no title.
Trebek has presented the “Jeopardy!” Long-lasting. since 1984, and is hired until 2022. Has a new memory, “The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life,” released Tuesday.
.
