Packers QB Aaron Rodgers won’t be the new host of ‘Jeopardy!’
Announcing Mayim Bialik and Mike Richards as our new hosts of Jeopardy! Richards will host the daily syndicated show, while Bialik will host primetime and spinoff series.https://t.co/MVQAqnKgjU pic.twitter.com/itY6fIe5Uv
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) August 11, 2021
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers wanted to be the permanent host of “Jeopardy!” but the iconic game show is going in a different direction.
Mike Richards and Mayim Bialik were officially announced by Sony Pictures Television as the new hosts on Wednesday.
Richards, previously the show’s executive producer, will be the daily host, while Bialik will host primetime events and spin-offs.
Rodgers, the NFL’s MVP and a long-time fan of the game show, enjoyed a two-week stint as a guest host earlier this year. And he wasn’t satisfied with just being a guest host – he wanted a shot at the official gig while still playing football.
Here’s what Rodgers said to Claire McNear of The Ringer in April: “I don’t think I’d need to give up football to do it. They film 46 days a year. I worked 187 this year in Green Bay. That gives me, eh—[pauses]—178 days to do Jeopardy! So I feel like I could fit 46 into that 178 and make it work. It would be a dream job for sure, and I’m not shy at all about saying I want the job. That’s how I went into it. I want an opportunity to be in the mix.”
It’s unclear how long Richards wants to be the host. Rodgers is 37 years old but wants to play football until he’s at least 40, but he also openly contemplated retirement this offseason. Maybe the Packers quarterback will get his shot at being the full-time host at some point down the road.
