Alex Trebek is opening up about his cancer battle while promoting the release of his upcoming memoir The Answer Is …: Reflections On My Life. Despite recently telling Jeopardy! fans that he's "feeling good" amid his ongoing treatments, the longtime game show host admits he's been having some bad days, too.
“There was one day a few weeks ago when [my wife] Jeanie asked me in the morning, ‘How do you feel?’ And I said, ‘I feel like I wanna die.’ It was that bad,” Trebek told ABC News in a recent interview. “I apologize to her and explain that it has nothing to do with my love for her or my feelings for her. It just has to do with the fact that I feel like I’m a terrible burden to her, and that bothers me tremendously.”
While holding back tears, Trebek called his wife of 30 years, Jean Currivan Trebek, a saint. “She has so much goodness in her that she is always giving out, always putting out to help me get over difficult moments," he said. "And there have been some difficult moments. I’m just in awe of the way she handles it.”
Trebek also spoke candidly about accepting his own mortality amid his ongoing health issues. “There have been tough moments. And I don’t know what it is, but when it’s time to go, it’s time to go,” he shared. “Let’s do it. Get out there, suck it up, make it happen.”
While chatting with the New York Times last week, Trebek revealed he won't undergo another round of treatment should his current course fail. Right now, however, his doctors feel he's doing quite well. “My doctor has told me that he is counting on me celebrating two years of — survivorship past the diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer. And that two years happens in February,” Trebek said in his ABC News interview. “So I expect to be around ‘cause he said I will be around."
Not only is Trebek counting on still being here in February, he plans to still be hosting Jeopardy! then, too. "I expect to be hosting the show if I am around," he said.
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