Jeopardy!’s Ken Jennings cracks joke about rival host Ryan Seacrest and Wheel of Fortune off camera during show taping
JEOPARDY! host Ken Jennings isn’t losing sleep over Wheel of Fortune beating his show in the ratings, and was cracking jokes off camera with the live audience of a recent taping.
The U.S. Sun previously revealed that Wheel of Fortune surged past Jeopardy! by over 1 million viewers after Ryan Seacrest took over from Pat Sajak.
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Ken Jennings is finding his stride with the show after taking over from Alex TrebekCredit: Getty
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Wheel of Fortune is winning over Jeopardy! in the ratings with new host Ryan SeacrestCredit: Wheel of Fortune
Ryan, 49, made his debut in September and saw the ratings rise for the ABC show, while Ken is said to be struggling to keep up after taking over as the sole host of Jeopardy!.
Around 8,310,000 viewers watched Wheel of Fortune for the premiere week, according to official figures.
As for Jeopardy!, the trivia game show pulled in 7,113,000 viewers during the same period.
Ken, who took over from iconic longtime host Alex Trebek, made light of the situation between games at Sony Picture Studios this past week.
An insider told The U.S. Sun: “After a recent taping, Ken asked the live audience if they enjoyed their time at the show, before asking if any of them wished they’d gone to see Wheel of Fortune instead.
“The crowd erupted in laughter and seemed to appreciate him making fun of the rivalry and not taking it so seriously.”
“Ken is very humble, really kind to everyone on set, and eager to answer questions from guests.
“It seems the role hasn’t gone to his head. There’s no ego about him at all.”
FIGHT FOR THE TOP SPOT
The source also said Ken seems to be settling in well on the re-named Alex Trebek stage and is even using the former host’s hairdresser, Renee Ferruggia.
“Audience members have also asked him which is harder; being a contestant or hosting, and he admitted taking part was much more nerve-wracking than reading out the questions.”
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But he may still be getting heat from bosses after WoF took the top spot last month as Ryan’s team is said to be popping champagne over the success.
Jeopardy! brought in more viewers overall last season before Ryan came on board.
Ken and The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik shared hosting duties until she was let go from the show in 2023 because producers allegedly wanted more consistency.
He’s now solo and will have to work hard to beat WoF as Ryan has more star power and experience in television, while this is Ken’s first role after being a long-running champion on Jeopardy!
Jeopardy! Contestant Rules
Passing Jeopardy!’s online Anytime Test is hard enough, but there are also many rules players must follow once they make it to the stage:
The returning champion is always at the leftmost podium and keeps playing until they lose.
Contestants don’t have to say “who is” or “what is” in the first round but must do so in Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy.
Contestants can change their responses as long as Ken Jennings or the judges haven’t made a ruling.
The minimum wager for a Daily Double is $5. The minimum wager for Final Jeopardy! is $0.
Written responses in Final Jeopardy! do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct (the judges decide this).
If there’s a tie after Final Jeopardy, the tied players enter a bonus clue shootout, and whoever buzzes in first correctly wins.
If all three contestants wager everything in Final Jeopardy! and are incorrect, leaving them with $0, there will be no returning champion (it’s happened before—six times).
Ken had a 74-game streak as a contestant and told fans at a taping this week that he pulled in more than $2.5 million.
According to reports, he has made a total of $4.3 million from the game show with tournaments.
A TV source previously told The U.S. Sun: “Ryan is bringing a sense of youth and urgency to the job that is a lot harder to pull off than it looks.
“My advice to Ken is that just because Mayim is out of the picture doesn’t mean he shouldn’t watch his back.
“In most media markets these shows run back-to-back and Ken needs to make sure he doesn’t suffer from the contrast with Ryan.
“It’s a tricky situation because their personalities are so radically different from one another.”
Although Ken, 50, has no longtime contract to host the show, he’s allegedly made it clear he wants to prove people wrong.
“Jeopardy! is Ken’s religion; he lives it, and he breathes it, and despite all the outside pressures, he’s not going to mess this up,” the insider claimed.
“He’s proud to have worked his way into this position and believes he has what it takes to make it last for decades to come.”
The source continued, “What he really wants more than anything is to stick around and make this position work for the long run.
“And if that means making less money to ensure his longevity, you can bet your life he’d be game.”
KEN’S COMPETITION
Meanwhile, Ken also has competition from SNL star and comedian Colin Jost, who is hosting the pop culture spin-off of Jeopardy!, which is set to air in December.
Colin, 42, was named host of the streaming-only show instead of Ken, which shocked some fans.
“At Sony TV, getting Colin to come aboard Jeopardy! was a major coup,” an insider told The U.S. Sun.
“Colin has more experience with live TV than almost anybody involved with Jeopardy!,” they added.
“He can make things work in the moment that Ken can’t, and nobody is in denial about that.”
Meanwhile, Celebrity Jeopardy! was filmed recently and it has not yet been revealed who will host after Ken took on the role previously.
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Ryan Seacrest and co-star Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune are celebrating their ratings successCredit: Wheel of Fortune
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Colin Jost – seen here on Weekend Update – has become a ‘real favorite’ with SonyCredit: Getty
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Poster for Pop Culture Jeopardy! with Colin as host instead of KenCredit: Jeopardy!
