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Who's Alex Trebek's wife Jean Currivan? 'Jeopardy!' host found love with woman 24 years younger to him post divorce

Trebek said, 'I was thinking about President Bush when he died, 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'
PUBLISHED NOV 9, 2020
Alex Trebek and Jean Currivan Trebek (Getty Images)
Alex Trebek and Jean Currivan Trebek (Getty Images)

Iconic television personality Alex Trebek, the long-time host of American television quiz show 'Jeopardy!', has died at the age of 80. This comes after Trebek announced that he was diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer in March 2019. The news of his demise was announced on November 8 by Jeopardy’s official Twitter handle. It wrote, “Jeopardy! is saddened to share that Alex Trebek passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends. Thank you, Alex.”

Trebek was one of the most loved hosts on television and was celebrated for hosting 'Jeopardy!' since 1984. The quiz show’s producer, Sony Pictures, led tributes to the "legend" writing in a statement, as per the BBC, "For 37 amazing years, Alex Trebek was that comforting voice, that moment of escape and entertainment at the end of a long, hard day for millions of people around the world."
 
Trebek was popular for wit and charisma, amid his three decades on the show, which made it a groundbreaking hit especially in Canada and the United States. BBC reported that in 2014 Trebek set Guinness World Record for "most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter". While we know much about the widely known host on the professional front, here we shed light on his personal life.



 

The first marriage and divorce

Trebek has married twice. The first time was when he married businesswoman and former Playboy Bunny, Elaine Callei. Elaine shifted to Toronto, Ontario with her first husband, Louis Callei. There she embarked on her professional endeavors and started her own company planning business. She, later on, got her own talk show ‘Call Callie’, and also appeared on the morning show Canada AM for some months starting from 1973.

Host Alex Trebek poses on the set at Sony Pictures for the 28th Season Premiere of the television show "Jeopardy" on September 20, 2011 in Culver City, California.(Getty Images)

Trebek wed Callei in 1974. The couple didn't have any children together and Trebek adopted her daughter, Nicky, who was from Elaine's marriage to Louis. However, the couple split in 1981, 8 years after their marriage but still stayed close post-divorce. Trebek reportedly shared "When my kids, Emily and Matthew, were in high school, Elaine would give them summer jobs," referring to the children he shares with his second wife Jean Currivan Trebek.

Finding Love Again

Trebek, the suave and polished host of 'Jeopardy!' found love again after his divorce from Elaine. This time he was in love with 26-year-old Jean Currivan, a real estate project manager who grew up in Huntington, N.Y. In addition to her forte in real estate, Currivan Trebek is a professional sound healer, Reiki master, and religious science practitioner, as per News Week. 
 
 Trebek and Currivan got together at a party in 1988. Two years later, Trebek took their relationship a bit forward and invited Jean to his home for dinner. When the couple was dating, Currivan told the website People of meeting Trebek, “There was just this deep sensitivity about him with a gruffy exterior. I kept thinking, he’s 24 years older than me .. but there was something that just kept drawing me to him.”

Alex Trebek (R) and Jean Currivan Trebek arrive at the 38th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards held at the Las Vegas Hilton on June 19, 2011 in Las Vegas, Nevada.(Getty Images)

As per the website People, the idea of dating Jeopardy!’s host, says Jean, made her “really nervous. 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.” The couple married in April 1990 where Currivan was reportedly 24 years junior to Trebek. On Currivan’s 26th birthday in September 1990, Trebek surprised her by gifting black velvet pants and a matching bolero jacket along with a diamond and sapphire ring. “It took my breath away,” says Jean. “I mean, it was a rock.” 

Trebek’s friends who tried to set him on romantic dates with high profile personalities like actress Susan Sullivan and Stefanie Powers and columnist Rona Barrett mentioned that after meeting Jean Currivan, Trebek found his love. “Alex was looking for a Jean,” said a source in The People, “and he found her.” The 24-year-old age gap did not bother the couple and love just blossomed over years. “At first it worried me,” agrees Trebek. “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,” says Jean. “So I didn’t try to push him. We just took it one day at a time.”
 
 In Jean, the couple Trebek found a soulmate kind of love. Jean noted in 2019 that the couple’s 30-year olf long journey was full of happiness but also had its share of rough times. “We have our challenges,” she said. “And then we have our really beautiful times, where we’re just so blessed to know that we’re in each other’s courtyard.”

(L-R) Genevieve McGillicuddy, TV personality Alex Trebek, Jean Currivan Trebek, General Manager of TCM Jennifer Dorian, and TV personality Ben Mankiewicz pose back onstage during the 2015 AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute Honoring Steve Martin at the Dolby Theatre on June 4, 2015 in Hollywood, California. 25292_004(Getty Images)

However, there is still something that draws Currivan to her husband even after so many years and that’s his personality. “He’s got a great sense of humor,” she says. “He takes his job very seriously, but won’t take himself too seriously. He’s just an intelligent human being,” Jean said. “Part of Alex’s staying youthful is his staying curious.”

In 2019, Trebek gushed at his wife and their lovely marriage, “I’m pretty satisfied with my life. 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.”

The tumultuous time post Cancer

In March 2019, Trevek announced that he was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer. Currivan helped him heal with her sound healing and religious science practice. She mentioned as reported by Newsweek about her lifting Trebek’s spirits when he was sick with the deadly disease, "It comes from a place of love because I want to uplift him...and when I keep my own self buoyed and enjoying my life, I can actually share that with him. He can look at me and have a sense of 'life is beautiful, my wife is doing something good'".

Alex Trebek accepts the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Game Show Host onstage during the 46th annual Daytime Emmy Awards at Pasadena Civic Center on May 05, 2019 in Pasadena, California.(Getty Images)

Trebek is survived by his two children, Matthew and Emily from his marriage with Currivan, and Nicky, whom he had adopted from his marriage with first wife, Elaine.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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