After months of guest hosts for Jeopardy!, the game show may have found its new host in executive producer Mike Richards. After an exciting week with LeVar Burton hosting and David Faber this week, it's been an interesting time for the long-running game show. Host Alex Trebek died in November of 2020 and since, the show has been filled with different guest hosts until Sony could find a replacement host.
According to an exclusive report from Variety, Richards, who joined the show as an executive producer last year, is a "front runner" but is by no means the only candidate still in the running to take over from Trebek's 36 year run as the official host of Jeopardy!. Richards has previously hosted Divided, The Pyramid, and Beauty and the Geek, so Richards does have some hosting experience under his belt.
Variety made it clear that there were still others who could potentially take over and there were no clear signs that Richards would officially be the new host. "A Sony Pictures spokesman said that discussions were ongoing with several potential candidates. He would not comment specifically on Richards’ status," Variety wrote. "A source close to the situation cautioned that there’s no certainty that the sides will close a deal and that other candidates remained in the mix, although Richards is clearly the front-runner."
Trebek was a staple of the show for so long that it feels strange to pass that torch on to anyone else. Since January, we've seen hosts like Mayim Bialik, Anderson Cooper, Ken Jennings, George Stephanopoulos, Robin Roberts, Aaron Rodgers, and more, but we have no word if any of these hosts are also on the shortlist for becoming the full-time host of the show.