‘Jeopardy!’: Ken Jennings Gets Candid About the Hardest Part of Hosting Show

Ken Jennings is opening up about family life. The Jeopardy! host spends time away from his wife and children while he is filming the long-running game show in Los Angeles.

Jennings was born in Seattle, Washington, in May 1974, and still lives there with his wife, Mindy, and children, Caitlin and Dylan. The fiercely private star revealed in a conversation with fans that he has no plans to move his family to L.A. so they can be together while he is filming the show.

An insider for The U.S. Sun told the outlet at a taping of the show that Jennings confessed to the audience that being away from his family is the hardest part of his job.

“Ken was honest about being away from his family being the hardest part of the job,” the insider said. “He said that despite how tough it is to be away, which only gets harder the busier his schedule was, he has no plans on moving to LA.

“He was adamant that his family has built a great life in Seattle they’re happy with. LA is not for them.”

Ken’s family is pictured below. (From top to bottom — son, Dylan, caught Caitlin, and wife, Mindy).

The last time his team made it to the playoffs, this guy wasn’t born yet. He just started his sophomore year of college. Congrats @Mariners! pic.twitter.com/pFgC2BbMqI

— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) October 1, 2022

Jeopardy! typically films every Tuesday and Wednesday on the Sony Studios lot in Culver City, California, with the game show filming five episodes per day. The flight from Washington to Los Angeles takes about three hours. The host resides in a smaller home in Los Angeles while working but has no plans to move there permanently.

As a kid, Jennings moved overseas due to his dad’s job as an international lawyer. However, when he attended college, the former Jeopardy! champion decided to go back to his hometown to study at the University of Washington – and later transferred to Brigham Young University.

Due to his massive winnings on the game show, Jennings’ Seattle home, which was built in 2008, is 4,500 square feet and is three-stories tall, worth over $2,900,000. The house includes a large patio deck with a spa and mountain views for miles. Inside, the bathroom has a full-sized bathtub. It also contains a media room and two full-size kitchens. According to the Jeopardy! website, Jennings won $4,370,700.

He is the sole host of the game show, filming not only the regular syndicated program but the tournaments and celebrity version as well. Mayim Bialik served as co-host with Jennings after Alex Trebek died but was fired from the program in December 2023.