Famed gameshow host Alex Trebek may no longer be in jeopardy after finishing chemotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer. According to Fox News, Trebek is now on the mend and “back in action” for another season of the iconic trivia show.
On Thursday, Trebek announced via the official “Jeopardy” Twitter page he completed his chemotherapy and will be returning for season 36 on September 9th.
“I’ve gone through a lot of chemotherapy and thankfully that is over,” Trebek shared. “I’m on the mend and that is all I can say right now.”
Back in March, Trebek stunned audiences when he announced his battle with stage four pancreatic cancer — a disease that yields a survivor rate of just 3%.
“I have some news to share with all of you, and it’s in keeping with my longtime policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy! fan base,” he said in the video. “I also wanted to prevent you from reading or hearing some overblown or inaccurate reports regarding my health. So therefore, I wanted to be the one to pass along this information. Now, just like 50,000 other people in the United States each year, this week I was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.”
“I’m going to fight this, and I’m going to keep working,” he added. “And with the love and support of my family and friends and with the help of your prayers also, I plan to beat the low survival rate statistics for this disease.”
In what can only be described as a miracle, Trebek revealed several months later that the disease was in near-remission. Speaking with PEOPLE, Trebek credited his recovery to the prayers of millions of fans, with doctors admitting they may have played a significant factor in his recovery.
“I told the doctors, this has to be more than just chemo,” he told the outlet. “I’ve had a couple million people out there who expressed their good thoughts, their positive energy and their prayers. The doctors said it could very well be an important part of this.”
However, at the time, his statements were a subject of some light controversy when Newsbusters revealed that both “NBC Nightly News” and “CBS Evening News” edited those parts about prayer out of their broadcasts while ABC’s “World News Tonight” included them. Over at NBC, Trebek’s quotes were specifically edited to eliminate the word prayers by including an ellipsis in its place. So rather than the full quote, NBC reported it as follows: “I’ve got a couple million people out there who have expressed good thoughts … I told the doctors this has to be more than just the chemo.”
Over at CBS, anchor Margaret Brennan included only a brief segment from People magazine about his “mindboggling” recovery:
“There was some encouraging news today from Alex Trebek,” reported Brennan. “The host of Jeopardy! says his doctors tell him that his stage-four pancreatic cancer is in, quote, ‘near remission.’ In an interview with People magazine, Trebek calls the prognosis ‘mind-boggling’ but says he has several more rounds of chemotherapy to go before he’s declared to be in full remission.”