Mayim Bialik isn’t very confident in her abilities as a “Jeopardy!” contestant.
During a recent appearance on the “Club Random with Bill Maher” podcast, Bialik told the host that folks often ask her if she knows the answers to all of the questions she asks the contestants on “Jeopardy!,” revealing the reply is certainly “no.”
“No. To start with, answering things like that under pressure with a timer will not be gonna occur for me,” she told Maher. “It’s hard!”
The actress and game show host explained to Maher that “there’s an enormous psychological component” which comes into play when attempting to win.
“There’s a rhythm that winners get into,” she said. “When you get something improper, it may be debilitating. I might cry, I feel.”
Many assume Bialik would do well on the show resulting from the incontrovertible fact that she has a doctorate, but she claims “the knowledge I actually have will not be necessarily ‘Jeopardy!’ knowledge.”
“There are categories, like, obviously I’m trained in science. I can feel pretty confident in regards to the science categories. I’m a crossword puzzle person, so there’s crossword categories. I actually have a minor in Hebrew and Jewish studies, so anything in that realm,” Bialik explained. “It’s a distinct kind of information [on ‘Jeopardy!], like ’18th century poets.’”
The “Celebrity Jeopardy!” host also admitted she’s “surprised on the number and the variety of people” who approach her as fans of the show.
Bialik and Ken Jennings took over hosting duties of “Jeopardy!” and “Celebrity Jeopardy!” in 2020, when longtime host Alex Trebek passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer, but Bialik stepped aside in September as a way to show her support for the writers and actors strikes.
“There’s numerous complexity to this, but my general statement is all the time that I come from a union family. My grandparents were immigrants who worked in sweatshops, and my parents were public school teachers,” she told Vanity Fair about her support of unions.
“While it’s not for me to personally judge anyone else’s decision, for me, I’m a union supporter — just about all unions and what they fight for. I feel in that system even when it’s not perfect,” Bialik added. “I feel in getting educated about why people strike and what they’re striking for.”
Fans of the show gave the impression to be pleased with the concept Jennings can be taking up for her, offering comments comparable to “Ken all day on a regular basis please” and “now that Mayim isn’t hosting I can watch this” under the announcement on the show’s official Instagram page.
Nonetheless, the show’s producers have stood behind her and their decision to solid her.
“Mayim and Ken are each extraordinarily talented and easily lovely humans,” “Jeopardy!” executive producer Michael Davies previously said. “They support the staff and one another. They love and respect this institution of a television program. In return, the staff and I are honored to work alongside them.”
