Mayim Bialik’s ‘Jeopardy’ Hosting Gig Begins With A Touching Tribute To Her Son

Mayim Bialik is making her mark on Jeopardy, but she has a very special inspiration to thank for landing there in the first place. Bialik, who has been praised for her performance as interim host since taking on the job last week, told viewers at the start of Monday’s show that she was first encouraged by her son to try her hand at the iconic game show, People reports.

“As I start my second week of guest-hosting Jeopardy!, I want to thank my 15-year-old, Miles,” Bialik told the audience. “He was the one who first suggested I give this a try and I hope I am making him and his little brother, Frederick, proud.”

Bialik, who has a PhD in neuroscience from UCLA, is also known for her role on the long-running sitcom The Big Bang Theory, which ended in 2019 after over a decade on air.

In an interview with Jeopardy, Bialik said it was “an immense honor” to be a part of the game show. “This is such an iconic and unbelievable piece of our collective culture, to be considered to be part of it really in any way, it’s an immense honor,” she said. “Especially for someone who’s dedicated so much of my life to academia to knowing things and to being able to communicate things.”

Bialik’s hosting gig comes after multiple other interim hosts took to the stage, including Ken Jennings, Katie Couric, Dr. Oz, Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, and Bill Whitaker. When Bialik leaves the lectern June 11, she’ll be followed by Savannah Guthrie, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, and fan favorite LeVar Burton.

Jeopardy has been using a roster of guest hosts to fill in since Alex Trebek’s death in November of last year, but the method isn’t going to last long. Jeopardy is expected to announce a permanent replacement for Trebek this summer.

New episodes of Jeopardy air weeknights at 7/6c on ABC.

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