Ken Jennings isn’t one to divulge details about his family life — but he did just that when reminiscing about his time as a competitor on Jeopardy!.
The current quiz show host appeared on Good Morning America on January 21 to promote Celebrity Jeopardy! season 3. Given Ken’s long history as both a 2004 contestant and later the emcee of the franchise, the GMA hosts decided to have him play a version of the game on live TV. But with Ken participating in the segment, one clue led him to talk about a sweet throwback moment involving his son Dylan (whom he shares with wife Mindy Boam; the couple also share daughter Caitlin).
‘Jeopardy!’ star Ken Jennings told a sweet story on ‘GMA’ about how his son Dylan reacted to seeing him compete on the quiz show in 2004.© Christopher Willard – ABC
As Ken decided to answer a question in the “Name Dropping” category, GMA star Lara Spencer prompted him with this clue: “This is what your oldest son called you instead of ‘Dad’ the summer you were on Jeopardy!.” This led Ken to reveal that Dylan only called him by his full name at the time — and it came from hearing announcer Johnny Gilbert call him that at the top of every episode.
“He was only a year old, and he called me ‘Ken Jennings’ all summer,” he shared in a clip posted on TikTok. “Like, that’s what the announcer said.”
Upon hearing this new detail about Ken’s family — and how they reacted to him starring on Jeopardy! at the time — fans took to the comments to share their thoughts.
“That’s the cutest story. 🥰,” one person wrote in the comments. “That’s hilarious 😆,” another agreed. “😂😂😂😂,” a different follower added.
As longtime fans of Jeopardy! may remember, Ken famously competed for 75 episodes between June and December 2004. At the time, he won all but one game and amassed $2,584,100 over the course of that time period. He has since gone on to publish books, flex his knowledge skills on shows like The Chase and eventually succeed the late Alex Trebek as the host of Jeopardy!.
After hearing this story, we definitely would love to see Dylan make a TV appearance alongside his dad one day!
