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Alex Trebek was recently diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
By Emily Blackwood — Written on Jul 23, 2020
Legendary game show host, Alex Trebek, just turned 80 and released his new memoir, The Answer Is... Reflections on My Life.
Fans of Trebek also know that he was diagnosed with cancer last year. The Jeopardy! game show host announced in a video in March 2019 that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
In his statement, he said that he planned to "fight this."
"Now normally, the prognosis for this is not very encouraging, but I'm going to fight this, and I'm going to keep working," he said at the time. "And with the love and support of my family and friends, and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease."
Trebek has hosted Jeopardy! since 1984. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 70 percent of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer are over the age of 65. And only 8.5 percent of people survived five years after they were diagnosed.
Still, Trebek was optimistic.
"Truth told, I have to," he had said in the video. "Because under the terms of my contract, I have to host Jeopardy! for three more years! So help me. Keep the faith and we'll win. We'll get it done."
However, a statement about "stopping" his cancer treatment that was written in his newly released memoir has fans concerned about the host.
This news about Trebek's cancer treatment has people wondering more about those closest to him, such as his wife.
Who is Alex Trebek's wife, Jean Trebek?
Here's everything we know about Jean Trebek, her relationship with the Jeopardy! host, and what's currently going on in his life.
Alex Trebek met his wife, Jean Currivan at a party.
Trebek met Jean Currivan at a party in 1988; he was 47 and she was 24. After the party, he invited her to his house for dinner, and the rest is history.
She later said that the idea of dating the host of Jeopardy! made her "really nervous," saying, "I was afraid I’d mispronounce my own name! But Alex is really down to earth. He’s much more casual than he is on the show.”
Alex Trebek married his wife two years later.
After dating for two years, they were married on April 30, 1990. During the wedding, which was held for 150 guests at L.A.'s Regency Club, the couple revealed how Trebek proposed to Currivan on her 26th birthday.
He had given her black velvet pants and a matching bolero jacket. “I thought that was it,” Currivan said. “Then he said, ‘Here’s a little something else,’ and he took out this little wicker box.”
Inside that little wicker box was a 16-carat sapphire ring, surrounded by six carats' worth of diamonds. “It took my breath away. I mean, it was a rock.” Then, when he popped the question, Currivan said she "went all dumb."
"I think I said, ‘What?'"
Trebek and Currivan weren't worried about their age difference.
There is a 24-year age gap between Trebek and Currivan, but they never said it's been a problem; though the game show host was worried at first.
“At first it worried me,” he said. “But then I thought, ‘The hell with it. We’ll make it work.’”
“I can understand why he was cautious about being with a younger woman,” added Currivan. “So I didn’t try to push him. We just took it one day at a time.”
The Trebeks have two children.
Trebek and Currivan have two children together. Their son, Matthew, 30, is a restaurateur in Manhattan. It was always his dream to open up a restaurant, and he did.
“There was just something about the hospitality industry that I fell in love with," he said back in 2016. "It’s great because it’s very free form in that it allows you to venture out into so many different fields: design, food, drinks, music, graphic design, and even just talking to people."
Their daughter, Emily, 27, works in real estate in Los Angeles. In 2017, she talked about the first home she flipped.
“I have always been interested in homes," she said in an interview for the Jeopardy! blog. "When I was little, I wanted to be an architect. After graduating, I decided to get into real estate."
"As I was getting ready to flip my first house, I told my dad that I wanted to do it with him. If dad can fix something, he will not have anyone else do it. I remember back when I was learning to drive, and I would accidentally run over a sprinkler head or path lighting in the driveway, we all knew dad would be out five seconds later fixing it. And I always watched him fix things, and wanted to learn.”
Trebek also adopted a daughter from his previous marriage to Elaine Callei. Her name is Nicky, and she had, at one time, worked as a production coordinator for Trebek's show.
Alex Trebek wished he would have married his wife sooner.
“I’m pretty satisfied with my life,” Trebek revealed back in 2019. “But my wife Jean and I have been together almost 29 years, and I was thinking about President Bush when he died, and all the comments about his life about what a nice guy he is, and how he and his wife had been together 73 years.
I thought, oh my gosh... if I’d just met Jean in my 20s we could have had a longer life together.”
Fans worried after a statement Trebek made in his new memoir, The Answer Is...
Although fans of the longtime host were excited to read his memoir, there is something that caused fans to grow concerned. In the book, Trebek writes, “I’m going to stick with this current protocol, then that’s it. If it doesn't work I’ll probably stop treatment.”
Trebek was quick to ease his fans' minds. He took to social media, writing, “That quote from the book was written before my current regimen, and I was going through some bad times.”
He also added that his current numbers are "very good," but if that were to change, he would resume his treatment and not stop it. He also wrote, “I am optimistic about my current plan.”
Trebek has been sharing regular updates on his health with his many fans since he was diagnosed, and he has also noted that he looks forward to hosting Jeopardy! once again after the coronavirus pandemic ends.
He also hasn't lost his sense of humor and has even made jokes about who he would like to replace him one day as host of the iconic show. There have even been many fan theories about who would replace him.
In case you're wondering who it is, it's none other than Betty White, who has had a long friendship with Trebek.
Trebek said, "I joke with the audience all the time and I say, 'Betty White,' because they want somebody younger, somebody funnier."
Emily Blackwood is a writer and editor living in California. She covers all things news, pop culture, and true crime.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally posted in March 2019 and was updated with the latest information.
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