Monday night was a big night on television…and no, we’re not talking about the NCAA championship game.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers began his stint as a fill-in host of longtime daytime TV staple, “Jeopardy!”
Rodgers opened the episode with a tribute to the late Alex Trebek, saying that he is a "lifelong fan" of the show and that it was an "incredible honor to guest host."
"I've had the opportunity to do a lot of amazing things but winning 'Celebrity Jeopardy!' (in 2015) and getting to share the stage with Alex Trebek was one of the things I'll never forget," he said. "Alex was such a gentleman, so smart, so precise, I was in awe. and I will work hard to honor his legacy."
No one was more excited about Rodgers hosting than his fiancée, actor Shailene Woodley. She shared a series of videos to her Instagram story on Monday afternoon promoting the show as they drove with their dog in the backseat.
“I have a very important announcement to make,” she said, enthusiastically. “This guy right here, this super sexy super attractive …guy is hosting ‘Jeopardy!’ tonight.”
She got Rodgers in on the video, who added that there are “some laughs, maybe some tears, excitement, mystery, you never know.”
The two went on to do a live stream from Rodgers’ Instagram during halftime of the championship basketball game, answering fan questions about hosting the game show.
Rodgers revealed his favorite category was the Bible, and that he spent “a ton of hours” studying to host while quarantined in Montreal at the beginning of the football off-season.
“I watched every episode on Netflix multiple times, I watched old episodes on my phone, I don’t know how to quantify it but probably 50 to 100 hours,” he said.
In response to fans asking if he would rather win another Super Bowl or become the full-time host of “Jeopardy!” he had a one-word answer:
“Both.”
Another fan asked if he would quit football to host the show, but Rodgers said he didn’t plan to.
“I just won MVP, I still have a lot left in the tank,” he said. “I’m still going to play and I’d love to host Jeopardy at the same time.”
“'Jeopardy!' films five times a day, 47 days a year,” he added. “That’s 230 episodes and I work for six months out of the year. So the other six months, I would have time to probably film 46 days, I think.”
Woodley agreed.
“Oh yeah, for sure, 100%, you could do so much,” she said with a laugh.“And you guys thought he was a football dude ... No one knows the real you.”
