‘Jeopardy’ Host Alex Trebek on Cancer Battle: I’m ‘Not Afraid of Dying’

Jeopardy! game show host Alex Trebek said he is “not afraid of dying” as he continues to battle stage 4 pancreatic cancer, according to a recent interview.

Trebek, who publicly disclosed his diagnosis in March, opened up in an interview with CTV News with the latest on his condition, adding that he sometimes regrets being so open about it.

“One thing they’re not going to say at my funeral as a part of a eulogy: ‘He was taken from us too soon.’ I’m 79 years old,” Trebek told CTV during the sit-down interview. “I’ve lived a good life, a full life, and I’m nearing the end of that life. I know that. I’m not going to delude myself. If it happens, why should I be afraid [of] that?”

“There are moments when I have some regrets about having gone public with it because there’s a little too much of Alex Trebek out there, and I regret that,” he added.

Trebek started his second round of chemotherapy roughly a week after he returned to host the show’s 36th season.

Doctors initially believed he could start on a course of immunotherapy after completing a successful first round of chemo, but they advised Trebek to stick with the second round of chemo after he suffered a setback in his treatment.

He told CTV he will continue to host the show despite his diagnosis, but will step away if he feels the need to focus on his health.

“I will keep doing it as long as my skills do not diminish, and they have started to diminish,” Trebek said. “I talk to the producers about this all the time. I say, ‘Look, I’m slurring my words. My tongue doesn’t work as well as it used to.’ The chemo has caused sores inside my mouth. It makes it difficult for me to speak and enunciate properly.”

Trebek said producers do not notice a difference in his performance, and hosting the show has not been difficult because Trebek has not suffered from any physical pain.