Ken Jennings Makes Bold Claim About ‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’ Contestants

Olivia Bellusci is a Newsweek writer based in New York. Her focus is reporting on entertainment news. She has in depth knowledge of the pop culture landscape. Olivia joined Newsweek in 2024. She is a graduate of Pace University. You can get in touch with Olivia by emailing [email protected]. You can find her on Instagram @OliviaBellusci. Languages: English.

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Ken Jennings set high expectations for viewers regarding the current season of Celebrity Jeopardy!

On Tuesday, January 21, the 50-year-old game show host appeared on Good Morning America to talk about the third season of the spinoff series. Jennings claimed that the group competing might be the smartest A-listers the show has witnessed, citing celebrity astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson as an example.

“These folks are smart. A lot of them are broadcasters, standup comics. We had Neil deGrasse Tyson. These might be our smartest celebrities ever,” Jennings stated. The TV personality then joked, “And that’s a high bar cuz we all know how smart celebrities are.”

The former Jeopardy! competitor also explained that the show, where the winning celebrity donates $1 million for a charity of their choosing, is not meant to be a Saturday Night Live parody but a real competition. “I just want to say for the record Celebrity Jeopardy! is not the SNL Celebrity Jeopardy! This is legit,” Jennings remarked.

Jennings later played a round of GMA‘s version of Jeopardy!, where he revealed what guest he would love to have on Celebrity Jeopardy!

The trivia posed to him was: “She’s the famous comedian behind the hit movie ‘Mean Girls’ who’s also your dream Celebrity Jeopardy guest.”

Jennings, of course, got the answer correct, stating, “Who is Tina Fey?” He then explained his reasoning: “I would love to book Tina Fey on Celebrity Jeopardy! She seems quick, maybe it’s just because celebrities with glasses always seem very smart to me.”

The GMA hosts also asked the game show extraordinaire which four competitors in the show’s history would make up his “Mount Rushmore.” Jennings did not name any celebrities or regular competitors as he stated, “There’s too many great contestants to fit on a mountain.”

Instead, Jennings said, “My Mount Rushmore would be Alex Trebek, obviously. The reasons I liked the show as a kid. The announcer, Johnny Gilbert, he’s a legend he’s in his 90s. And maybe just Merv and Julann Griffin, the husband and wife who created the show.”

Catch Celebrity Jeopardy! Wednesday’s at 9:00 P.M. ET on ABC.