ABC(LOS ANGELES) — Since Alex Trebek first announced in March that he was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he says he’s had good and bad days.
But these days, things are looking up for the Jeopardy! game show host, who’s releasing a memoir.
“I’ve received so many expressions of love and so many prayers said on my behalf…I thought, ‘Well, maybe… the people would care to learn something about me,'” Trebek told ABC’s Good Morning America.
As for those good and bad days, Trebek shares, “There was one day a few weeks ago when Jeanie [Trebek’s wife, Jean Trebek] asked me in the morning, ‘How do you feel?’ And I said, ‘I feel like I wanna die.’ It was that bad,” said Trebek.
“She’s a saint,” said Trebek, choking up while describing his wife of 30 years.
Trebek also got candid about how often difficult moments come up, both at home and at work.
“I’m good at faking it,” he said. “And I don’t know what it is, but when it’s time to go, it’s time to go…Get out there, suck it up, make it happen.”
He adds, “I suddenly wake up and I’m able to perform and handle the show because I like it. It’s a good job.”
Trebek, who turns 80 Wednesday, has been hosting Jeopardy! for 36 years, and still has no plans to stop.
“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…happens in February,” said Trebek. “So I expect to be around ’cause he said I will be around. And I expect to be hosting the show if I am around.”
Trebek’s memoir, titled The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life, will be out tomorrow.
By Cameron Harrison, Angeline Jane Bernabe, and Dominick Proto
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.