‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek gives health update, shares his plans after retirement

PASADENA – Alex Trebek is giving fans an update on his health.

“Some days are better than others,” the longtime “Jeopardy!” host — who announced his stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis last March — admitted during the Television Critics Association winter press tour at the Langham Huntington Hotel in Pasadena, Calif., on Wednesday.

He continued: “My resistance is lower than most, of course, because of the [chemotherapy] treatments. … 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.”

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The legendary game show host, who has been a fixture on the series since 1984, promised that as long as he feels his skills “haven’t diminished too much,” he has no plans to retire.

“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 has a doctor’s appointment on Thursday, Jan. 9, when he’ll undergo several tests and receive the results in “maybe another week or so.”

While he was as eloquent as ever, it was clear that the treatments have worn on Trebek — who noted that audience members “wouldn’t believe how dark my skin is becoming because of the treatments.”

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The television personality went on to mention that his “memory isn’t as good as it used to be” and said while filming “Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time” he felt a “little slower at the ad-libbed portions.”

He added, however, that his wife noted that she didn’t notice any difference in his hosting abilities.

Earlier this week, Trebek told Michael Strahan that he’ll take 30 seconds at the end of his final episode, whenever that may be, to say goodbye.

In Pasadena, Trebek said that he has yet to prepare his final 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.

Despite the harrowing idea of saying goodbye, the “Jeopardy!” host said he doesn’t “foresee that 30-second moment coming up in the near future.”

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When asked about his plans after the show though, Trebek joked to reporters: “Drink.” “No, I’ll work around the house,” he added.

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