Here’s The Black Woman That Alex Trebek Wanted to Replace Him on Jeopardy!
by Jeroslyn JoVonn

August 20, 2021

Here’s The Black Woman That Alex Trebek Wanted to Replace Him on Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! is back to being a hostless show after the newly selected host Mike Richards quit before he even got started.

Richards wrote:

“I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show and was thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role. However, over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show,” Richards said in a statement.

“As such, I will be stepping down as host effective immediately. As a result, we will be canceling production today,” he added.

Considering all the talk around the show’s hosting dilemma, it’s worth noting the host that the late Alex Trebek personally selected to replace him. It was during a 2018 interview on TMZ when Trebek revealed his hope for CNN legal analyst Laura Coates to be his potential successor.

At the time, Coates even acknowledged the interview and how honored she was to be mentioned by the hosting legend.

“Incredibly honored & humbled @Jeopardy Alex Trebek 1) knows who I am 2) thinks I’d be a great host of my fave game show ever that I grew up watching w/ my family & still watch w/ my own kids (who saw him say this & now think I’m a genius),” Coates said at the time.

Amid all the controversy surrounding the show’s short-lived new host, Black Twitter resurfaced Trebek’s past comments on Coates replacing him.

“This jeopardy situation is a mess. Alex said he thought Laura Cotes should get the job. Everybody on social media wanted LeVar Burton. They go with the guy that was inside the house that no one knew. A mess,” said one Twitter user.

“Wait. Alex Trebek named a Black woman, Laura Coates, to succeed him and they went with a basic white man who also happens to produce the show?” writer Imani Gandy said in response. “And they gave LeVar Burton like five days in the middle of the Olympics. Why even bother. Just give it to the white guy from jump.”

You know Black Twitter wasn’t going to be quiet about this. Now let’s see if the producers rectify the issue by selecting Burton or Coates as the new host.


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