A new temporary host for Jeopardy! has been named. As mentioned by Deadline, Mayim Bialik will fill in as the host of the syndicated game show following the exit of Mike Richards as host after just one day of tapings. Bialik is scheduled to tape three weeks of episodes (15 episodes) when production resumes this week.
Richards, who will remain an executive producer on the show, pulled out as the host of Jeopardy! after multiple incidents from his past emerged in the last few weeks. The reported five episodes that he taped as host will air, but a release date has not been announced. Richards is accused of making offensive and sexist comments towards his female co-hosts and guest on The Randumb Show, a podcast he hosted in 2013 and 2014.
In the wake of Mike Richards’ #Jeopardy exit, former guest host Mayim Bialik is temporarily stepping in to take over as the quiz show’s full-time host. https://t.co/B8NDDy7cZ9 pic.twitter.com/SP7y0rReJv
— Variety (@Variety) August 23, 2021
“I will be stepping down as host effective immediately,” Richard said in a memo to his staff on Friday. He also said that while he was “deeply honored” when asked to serve as the permanent host of the show and was “thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role,” it has become clear that staying on as host “would be too much of a distraction for the show.” Jeopardy! has been looking for a new host since the death of Alex Trebek in November.
Earlier this month, Bialik, 45, was named the host of the Jeopardy! primetime and spinoff series. It was reported that Jeopardy! wanted Bialik as the permanent host after being the guest host in March. However, Jeopardy! executives didn’t choose her due to scheduling conflicts. Bialik currently stars in the Fox series Call Me Kat and also hosts a podcast.
“It’s something I did with tremendous humility and respect for him and just, I mean, I had an unbelievable time,” Bialik told PopCulture.com in April when asked about her guest hosting Jeopardy!. “My brain really works the way Jeopardy! brain needs to work.”
Jeopardy! first launched on NBC in 1964 and was on the network until 1979. It returned in 1984 in syndication, and Trebek was the host until his death on Nov. 8, 2020. Trebek received eight Daytime Emmy Awards for his work on Jeopardy!