Four Unconventional Picks to Host ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’

On Tuesday, ABC announced its new fall television lineup, and to the excitement of armchair brainiacs everywhere, a spinoff of the controversy-riddled yet immensely popular ‘Jeopardy!’ was announced.

Yes the long standing show which routinely turns trivia whizzes into pop culture stars, will now look to feature existing stars who can double as whizzes by competing in ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’, which will air on Sundays at 8:00pm ET during the fall of 2022 and 2023 on ABC.   

Noticeably omitted from the announcement of the new show was who would play the role of host. While many have suggested it will be Mayim Bialik, who currently splits hosting the original ‘Jeopardy!’ with Ken Jennings, executives at the network have yet to confirm anything to that end definitively.

So before any official proclamation is made, here are four unconventional picks we’d love to see get a crack at hosting ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ come this fall.    

Chris Harrison

Though a reunion between ABC and the outcasted former host of The Bachelor seems unlikely at best, it could make sense from a logistical and ratings standpoint.

Harrison is just 50 years old, and is one of few available personalities with the live television experience and quick wittedness to manage the snappy rhythms of such a trivia show. Not to mention the wealth of ABC institutional knowledge he possesses, having been employed by the network as a host for nearly two decades.

His controversial ouster was one of the biggest stories of 2021, and a triumphant return could be equally as buzzworthy. Harrison has paid the price for whatever sin he may have committed, and America is after all, still the land of second chances.

Aaron Rodgers

You’ll recall the star quarterback was one of a handful of interim hosts for ‘Jeopardy!’ last year, after the show’s executive producer turned would be host Mike Richards was booted after a history of unsavory comments were unearthed by The Ringer‘s Claire McNear.   

Rodgers reportedly wanted the permanent job, and demonstrated as much by investing plenty of time in rehearsing and preparing during his NFL offseason. While he was at the helm ratings did improve noticeably, and polling suggested audiences ranked him only behind Jennings in terms of appeal to retain the gig.      

Now Rodgers did recently sign an extension with the Green Bay Packers, signaling that football will still be his main focus for the foreseeable future, but then again, Tom Brady just signed a massive deal with FOX to announce games prior to his playing career ending.

Maybe Rodgers could strike a similar deal with ABC?

Dr. Mehmet Oz

At the time of this writing Dr. Mehmet Oz is still deadlocked in a Pennsylvania senatorial race with former hedge fund manager David McCormick, but were he to lose that race he would find himself with plenty of free time on his hands. 

Why not an immediate return to television?  

Like Harrison, Oz has a wealth of experience in live TV, and like Rodgers, he performed more than adequately as an interim host on Jeopardy! last year, even though critics found him a poor fit for the fact based show considering his history of pedaling what many consider to be pseudoscience.  

Regardless, his existing fame and TV know-how would make him an interesting candidate, assuming ABC and the celebrity participants could look beyond some of his recently revealed political positions that would be inconsistent with the views held by many in mainstream network and celebrity circles.

Megyn Kelly

The former Fox News and NBC host as seen her share of ups and downs, but she’s recently settled into a daily podcast and radio show on SiriusXM, which by her standards is a light workload.

As a lawyer, Kelly certainly has the brains, and having previously confronted the likes of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin in her capacity as a journalist, she would have the brawn to go toe-to-toe with whatever celebrities would be brought into participate.

Of course she too has plenty of controversy in her past, most notably her 2018 departure from NBC, but that was three and a half years ago now — why not give her a shot on the big stage again?