Alex Trebek isn’t just a beloved TV personality. He’s also a beloved dad.
In advance of Father’s Day, Trebek’s wife, Jean, sat down with their two kids, Matthew and Emily, as well as Nicky, the daughter of his first wife whom he adopted during their marriage, to get some insight into what the “Jeopardy!” host is like as a dad.
For a story on Insidewink, a website where Jean serves as an editor, his three children were asked about the personality traits that they admire in their father.
“His persistence when it comes to solving challenges…Never give up!” Matthew replied.
“His determination… when he has his mind set on something, nothing will change it!” Emily said.
In her answer, Nicky alluded to Trebek's pancreatic cancer and the way he's handled it.
“His generosity to everyone and his humility about it,” she said. “I personally experienced him writing hundreds of thousands of thank you notes while he battled for his life. It’s truly astounding. I honestly can’t even put it into words.”
Nicky, who works with her dad on “Jeopardy!”, which he's hosted since 1984, also hammered home something viewers have most likely known for decades.
“He’s really good at his profession. The best in the business,” she said. “People don’t really understand what it takes to do what he does. He is meticulous and I feel very honored to have been able to watch him behind the scenes all of these years.”
And, of course, the kids had to chime in on the facial hair question that people have been debating for years: Do they prefer their father with a mustache or without one?
Matthew and Nicky vote with, while Emily says she prefers without.
Jean, who married Trebek in 1990, also wrote about how their "little family was meant to be."
“The stars all were aligned to bring together such unique personalities which deeply support and respect each other,” she wrote. “What’s interesting for me to witness, is that they each have had their own unique experiences with Alex and that really reflects back different perspectives on the man I married.”
Trebek, 79, has been out of the spotlight while production on “Jeopardy!” has been suspended due to the coronavirus.
Last year, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
"There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer functioned, and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on,'' he said in an update in March.