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Ken Jennings advises aspiring “Jeopardy!” contestants not to overcomplicate their preparation process.
“The best way to get ready for the show is simply by watching it,” Jennings shared with Fox News Digital during the TCM Classic Film Festival’s red carpet event.
“By regularly viewing ‘Jeopardy!,’ you naturally absorb the rhythm of the host’s voice and become familiar with the types of questions and topics that are featured. This is key to becoming a skilled ‘Jeopardy!’ player.”
For those looking to intensively prepare, Jennings recommends focusing on memorizing the U.S. presidents and first ladies in order, as well as world capitals.
“These areas offer the most efficient use of study time if you’re cramming for ‘Jeopardy!’,” Jennings noted, recalling his own extensive study sessions prior to his historic 74-game winning streak on the show in 2004.
And as a former contestant, Jennings admits he has “so much empathy” for players.
“EverybodyI think a lot of viewers don’t realize we do a full week at a time,” Jennings explained. “Like, we do five ‘Jeopardy!’s in one day. So, when a player wins, they have to rush off stage, put on a new outfit. I put on a new suit.
“We come back out 10 minutes later, and then I tell the great lie, which is like yesterday on ‘Jeopardy!’ but it was not yesterday! It was 10 minutes ago. We’re just fooling you.”
He explained that that means, “when players win for weeks at a time, like Jamie Ding has been doing in recent weeks, it’s an endurance contest. That’s a real marathon for them. They’ve got to play and then go back and play again.”
And for Jennings, a love of trivia goes a lot deeper than a memorable run on the show.
“I guess I remember being a kid and running home from school every day to watch Alex host ‘Jeopardy!’ and just thinking, you know, in real life, this makes me a little bit weird that I like knowing all this stuff,” he explained.
“Like, I’m very aware that this distinguishes me from other people. But for Alex, that was like a safe space. You know? ‘Jeopardy’ was a safe place for that.”
He added, “There’s certain kind of person where like, they need that safe space, you know, because curiosity is so important.”
Always humble, Jennings, admitted that he never thought in “a million years” that he would host the show.
“People would ask me, ‘Hey, like, if Alex were — you’ve been on Jeopardy for months — if Alex were to retire, would you like to be a host?’ And I said, ‘That will never happen in a million years. They’ll get a real broadcaster for this job.
“Everybody with a good TV resume is going to want this job, I’m not even going to get a tryout. Nobody is more surprised than me that I’m hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ but I just love this show so much. I feel very lucky.”