‘Jeopardy!’ Bosses Remove Last Trace of Mayim Bialik From Show
After parting ways with Mayim Bialik last December, Jeopardy! has finally removed the former host from its website, erasing any trace of the Big Bang Theory alum from the show’s history.
As first reported by The U.S. Sun, the official Jeopardy! website no longer includes photos of Bialik on its About The Show page, and her bio page has also disappeared. Up until last Friday (August 2), Bialik still had a presence on the website.
Bialik was selected as one of the long-running game show’s new hosts in 2022 alongside former contestant Ken Jennings. Bialik and Jennings’ casting came after a long search for a new host following the passing of Alex Trebek and the controversial hiring (and then firing) of producer Mike Richards.
Initially, Bialik and Jennings took turns hosting the regular syndicated version of Jeopardy!, while the Call Me Kat star also hosted Celebrity Jeopardy! and other spin-offs. However, in December 2023, Bialik announced that she had been fired from the series, and Jennings was named the sole host moving forward.
Bialik’s departure came after she’d stepped back from hosting out of solidarity with last summer’s writers’ strike. Jennings filled in for the Emmy-nominated actress during her absence. Two months after the strike ended, Bialik took to Instagram to reveal she’d been dropped from the show.
“Sony has informed me that I will no longer be hosting the syndicated version of Jeopardy!” Bilaik said at the time. “I am incredibly honored to have been nominated for a primetime Emmy for hosting this year and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of the Jeopardy! family. For all of you who have supported me through this incredible journey and to the fans, contestants, writers, staff and crew of America’s Favorite Quiz Show, thank you.”
At the 2024 Winter Television Critics Association Press Tour, Jeopardy!‘s executive producer Michael Davies said the show was “forced” into the multi-host situation “because of everything that had happened before with the guest-hosting period.”
“Mayim was left hosting the primetime versions, and I brought in Ken to guest-host because Mayim had her Fox sitcom [Call Me Kat],” he explained.
However, Davies said the decision to fire Bialik wasn’t anything to do with the writer’s strike and was instead made due to feedback.
“Over the past 2-1/2 seasons, what we’ve heard a lot from our television stations and other interested parties is they were looking for more consistency, they wanted a single host,” he stated, adding, “Ken really won the job.”
At the time, Davies said there was still hope of working with Bialik in the future, calling her “a superb host” and noting there were conversations about other spinoffs and primetime versions.
However, it appears the show is now done with Bialik for good. Not only has she been removed from the website, but the recently renewed Celebrity Jeopardy! was announced without a host attached, and the new Pop Culture Jeopardy! is set to be hosted by Saturday Night Live‘s Colin Jost.
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