‘Jeopardy’s Ken Jennings Reveals The Key Difference Between Pat Sajak And Alex Trebek’s Hosting Styles

Jeopardy host and longtime game show fan Ken Jennings shared a hot take during a recent appearance on Justin Long‘s podcast Life is Short.

Jennings, who took over as host of the famous game show after Alex Trebek‘s passing, said he grew up thinking Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak was “more fun” than Trebek was as a host.

“Alex was such a genius at being the host of Jeopardy — you really cannot do better than that,” he said. “But as a kid I was always like, ‘Pat’s more fun, Pat jokes around with the three people.'”

He went on to say that his hosting style is a bit more like Sajak’s than Trebek’s, though he certainly learned a lot of what he knows about hosting a game show from his predecessor.

“I’m a little more of a Pat Sajak where I’m like if I say one more thing, please end it with a joke,” Jennings said.

He continued, “Whereas Alex was very much like ‘OK, helium balloons, all right. How about you?’”

Both Sajak and Jennings certainly have a way of showing off their sense of humor when hosting.

Sajak is going out with a bang ahead of his impending retirement. He’s been known to prank, tease, and even snap at his contestants on-air. In one hilarious incident, he even tried to body slam a wrestler who was competing on the show.

On the other hand, Jeopardy fans who are used to Trebek’s stoic, but friendly, presence on stage always seem to be caught off guard by Jennings’ silly streak.

Jennings has long praised Trebek for the impact he’s had on his life and career. He grew up watching Trebek host Jeopardy, but the pair met when Jennings competed on the game show for 74 games straight in 2004.

“You know, I’ll never be Alex, but the only reason I can even approximate it is because I got to watch the best in the business do it for almost 40 years,” he recently said.

He also said Trebek was “more fun” than fans realize.

“During commercials, he would tell jokes, go into the crowd. He loved to warm up the crowd himself and do little impressions. He was a very light, funny guy,” Jennings revealed.

Now, it looks like Jennings is borrowing a couple of tricks from both iconic game show hosts as he continues his own run on Jeopardy.

Jeopardy! airs weeknights at 7/6c. Check out the website for local listings.