Aaron Rodgers will be returning to the Jeopardy! set. But this time he’ll be a guest host, not a contestant.
The Green Bay Packers quarterback revealed the news during an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show Tuesday afternoon.
“One of my idols growing up was Alex Trebek,” said Rodgers. “Being able to be on Jeopardy! years ago, even though my wardrobe outfit wasn’t the greatest choice, they’re doing some guest-hosting spots and this is going to be released here pretty soon, but I had the opportunity to do one of those.”
BREAKING NEWS: @AaronRodgers12 is going to guest host Jeopardy #PatMcAfeeShowLIVE pic.twitter.com/u03VFDVRvO
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 12, 2021
But Rodgers may have broken that news before the show’s producers wanted him to. ESPN’s Rob Demovsky was told no announcement on other guest hosts besides famed Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings had yet been made.
“I may have jumped the gun a little bit, so I apologize to Jeopardy! if they wanted to announce it,” said Rodgers during a press conference. “I just got so excited on the show earlier. It just went down the last couple of days, us figuring it out. It is very exciting. It’s for the offseason. We’ll be even more excited when that opportunity gets a little closer, but, man, the show has been so special to me over the years.”
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Rodgers appeared on Celebrity Jeopardy! in 2015, winning his competition against Shark Tank entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary and astronaut (now U.S. Senator) Mark Kelly.
No worries about this being a distraction for the Packers during their playoff run, Green Bay fans. As Rodgers mentioned, his guest-hosting gig will be during the offseason. (But there was no question about that, right?) The Packers, the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season, will face the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday (at 4:25 p.m. ET) in a Divisional Round playoff game.
Related: Why ‘Jeopardy!’ contestants tend to do so poorly with sports categories
Following Trebek’s death, Rodgers talked to The Athletic’s Matt Schneidman about his love for the show:
“Whether it’s watching Jeopardy! at my grandparents’ house during our week in the summer where it was just one of the grandkids with the grandparents. Every weeknight we watched it, me, at that point, not able to answer any questions, to jumping at the opportunity to be on Celebrity Jeopardy! and getting the chance to meet Alex and just hitting it off. We had a couple of fun conversations. It was just fun to meet someone whose voice you can hear and attach to so many different memories.
I mean literally, I’ve told friends of mine and people that come and visit and people I’ve dated, six o’clock at my house, is Jeopardy! And that’s just the way it goes.”
Following the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in November, Jeopardy! producers announced that the show would feature several guest-hosts while searching for a permanent replacement, beginning with former champion and beloved contestant Jennings.
