'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek updates fans on his battle with cancer: 'Some days are better than others'
Longtime 'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek, who announced in March 2019 that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, has finally given an update on his health condition.
Speaking during the Television Critics Association winter press tour at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, California, on January 8, the legendary TV personality admitted that "Some days are better than others," according to a Fox News report.
"My resistance is lower than most, of course, because of the [chemotherapy] treatments," Trebek said. "I have a cold that seems to be going around, but this is the second time I've had one in the past month and a half. They've gotten me off one of my chemo drugs, which were killing me."
The game show host, who has been a permanent fixture on the series since 1984, also revealed that he has no plans to retire as long as he feels his skills "haven't diminished too much."
"When you've been hosting, there are some of you who have been doing your jobs for many years," he said. "Some of you two or three decades. When you’ve been in the same job for that long period of time, it moves you to think at some point about retiring. Thinking about retiring and retiring are two different things."
Trebek also shared that he will be undergoing several tests on Thursday, January 9, and added that he hopes to receive the results in "maybe another week or so."
He went on to mention that his "memory isn't as good as it used to be" and said that he felt a "little slower at the ad-libbed portions" while filming 'Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time'.
However, he also reportedly added that his wife didn't notice any difference in his hosting abilities. Earlier, Trebek had revealed that he would be taking 30 seconds at the end of his final episode, whenever that may be, to say goodbye.
"That particular day, I will speak to [the producers and director] and tell them, 'Give me 30 seconds at the end of the program, that's all I need to say goodbye,'" he said. Though his farewell does seem to be looming on the horizon, the 'Jeopardy!' host added that he doesn't "foresee that 30-second moment coming up in the near future."
