Alex Trebek ‘in awe’ of how his wife supports him through cancer treatment

‘Jeopardy!’ host has been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer

Alex Trebek says he’s “in awe” of how his wife Jean Currivan Trebek has stood by his side throughout his cancer treatment.

The Jeopardy! host opened up about his health in a new interview with Good Morning America on Monday.

Trebek announced in March 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. Since then, he has been open about his treatment and experiences, sharing good news about his health as well as honest discussions about the struggles that have come with the diagnosis.

In Monday’s interview, Trebek told host TJ Holmes that he sometimes describes himself as a “burden” to his wife, and that on one recent occasion, he told her he felt as though he wanted to die.

“I apologised to her and explained that it has nothing to do with my love for her or my feelings for her. It just has to do with the fact that I feel like I’m a terrible burden to her and that bothers me tremendously,” he said.

Trebek got emotional as he added about his wife: “She’s a saint. She has so much goodness in her that she is always giving out, always putting out to help me get over difficult moments, and there have been some difficult moments.

“I’m just in awe of the way she handles it.”

The host said that while he has experienced intense pain and there have been “tough moments”, he has managed to find the energy to keep performing his duties as Jeopardy! host.

“I don’t know what it is, but when it’s time to go, it’s time to go,” he said. “Let’s do it. Get out there. Suck it up. Make it happen. ...It’s something that I can’t explain intellectually. At a gut level, without even thinking about it, it just happens. I suddenly wake up and I’m able to perform and handle the show, because I like it. It’s a good job.”

Trebek said he’s looking forward to returning to the studio and that his doctor “is counting on me celebrating two years of survivorship” since the diagnosis this coming February. “I expect to be around, because he said I will be around,” he added.

Trebek’s memoir, The Answer Is...: Reflections on My Life, is coming out this 21 July. The book includes insights both about his personal life and his experiences on Jeopardy!.