'Jeopardy' host Ken Jennings was once called out by Alex Trebek over an answer in wild TV moment
Ken Jennings had a record-setting winning streak on "Jeopardy!" as a contestant before he became the show's host. While he has carried on the legacy of his predecessor, Alex Trebek, the legendary host wasn't always happy with Jennings. The former star player was once reprimanded by Trebek for a controversial answer.
The category he chose during that episode of the show was ‘Tool Time,’ and the clue itself was controversial as well. “This term for a long-handled gardening tool can also mean an immoral pleasure seeker,” Trebek read. It did not take long for Jennings to hit the buzzer and say, “What’s a hoe?” That was not the correct answer, and the then-host Trebek was sure to call him out about it immediately.
“Whoa,” he said. “They teach you that in school in Utah, huh?” Jennings could not help but laugh at the whole thing. One of his competitors at the time, a man named Al, gave the correct answer, which was ‘rake.’ Jennings did not need to worry about losing the game as he was comfortably in the lead at the time with $14,800 while the others had negative sums of money.
“This is why Ken is the GOAT of Jeopardy. Even when he’s wrong, he’s technically right,” one fan wrote. “He should've gotten the points. He was right,” mentioned another. “I don’t know what surprised me more, the fact that Alex was surprised someone guessed that or the fact that it wasn’t the answer 😂,” one more fan commented. “It's been more than a decade, and this is still my favorite Jeopardy! Answer,” a viewer admitted.
Like most other game show hosts, Jennings has had his fair share of bloopers during his stint on “Jeopardy!” On one occasion, he could not help but swear on camera thanks to his own mistake. He had given away the answer to a clue before it had been revealed. It truly was hilarious to see the realization set in and then him yelling out the expletive in frustration.
A contestant named Matt chose the ‘Number, please’ category, and the clue read, “Normally, the human body contains this number of chromosomal pairs.” A woman named Amy got to her buzzer first and said, “What is 23?” which was the correct answer. “I don’t know if you noticed, but the numbers 40, 23, 38, and 74, which are larger than all of them…oh s**t!” he said.
The first clue, the answer to which was 40, had not yet been revealed. Amy obviously chose that category, but Matt was fastest to his buzzer as the clue was revealed. He ended up getting an easy win, and Jennings could not do anything but laugh.
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