LeVar Burton is getting his chance to host Jeopardy!
In response to a Change.org petition with nearly 250,000 signatures, the former star of Reading Rainbow, Roots, and Star Trek: The Next Generation has been announced as an upcoming guest host of Jeopardy!
“Our goal has been to present a wide variety of guest hosts with different skill sets and backgrounds on our path to finding a permanent host,” said Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards in a statement announcing Burton’s upcoming gig. “Our passionate fans are telling us what they like, and we are listening.”
Burton got behind the fan movement, telling USA Today that he’d be a “good fit” to host. “I think it’s a good fit of what the show is, what the show requires and what I feel like I bring to the table,” he said. “I feel as strongly about my rightness for this as I did about Kunta and Geordi. And I’m that invested in getting the job.” He also promised to do “justice to the legacy of” late Jeopardy! host Alex Trek.
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Other upcoming guests hosts of Jeopardy! include sports broadcaster Joe Buck, Good Morning America anchors George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts, and Squak on the Street co-anchor David Faber. They follow previously celebrity guests hosts include Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings, NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Anderson Cooper, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, among others.
As of now, Jeopardy! has yet to set on a permanent host to replacement Alex Trebek.
THANK YOU… to all y’all for your passionate support! I am overjoyed, excited, and eager to be guest-hosting Jeopardy!, and will do my utmost best to live up to your faith you in me. YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Go ahead and take my word for it, this time. https://t.co/C7mZWMok2X
— LeVar Burton (@levarburton) April 21, 2021
