KEN Jennings from hit game show Jeopardy! will soon star as a contestant on a rival game show.
Seattle-born and raised Ken, 51, shot to fame in the early noughties as a contestant on Jeopardy! before becoming the show’s host – and now he has made another shocking game show move.
Ken Jennings is the face of the Jeopardy! franchise[/caption]
Ken will star on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? this season alongside Matt Damon[/caption]
Jimmy Kimmel is at the help of the hit game show[/caption]
Later this year, Ken will star on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? alongside an A-list actor.
Today, the hit game show revealed the celebrity pairings for the new season of the beloved program.
“It’s going to be a season to remember! Don’t miss #WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire, premiering July 23rd on ABC and stream on Hulu,” the show penned on Instagram.
The caption was accompanied by a graphic that revealed the celebrity pairings.
Ken will be paired with acting sensation Matt Damon, known for his work in movies such as The Bourne Identity and Good Will Hunting.
“Pretty sure Ken Jennings doesn’t even need a partner, so score for Matt Damon,” said one person in reaction to the news.
Ken is best known as the host of Jeopardy!, but before he became host, he was a contestant.
KEN’S GLOWING GAME SHOW HISTORY
He is known for his record-breaking, consecutive 74-game winning streak on the game show Jeopardy! when he first appeared on it as a contestant.
Ken first appeared on Jeopardy! as a contestant on June 2, 2004.
His winning streak then ended that November.
He earned over $2.5million and became the highest-earning American game show contestant at the time.
Ken later became a host of the show and has also written several books.
The news of Ken’s new game show stint comes after he could be seen in the trailer for the new Happy Gilmore 2 movie.
Adam Sandler will be starring in the beloved sports comedy, which drops onto Netflix on July 25.
Jeopardy! Universe
Jeopardy! first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, many spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here they all are:
Jeopardy! – (syndicated) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7 pm ET.
Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament.
Second Chance Tournament – 2022 to present features hand-selected non-winners from the season prior, where the prize is entry into Champions Wildcard.
Champions Wildcard – 2023 to present, features all one, two and three-day champions from the season prior worth entry into the Tournament of Champions.
Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (syndication) – 2023 to present, features past greats invited by producers to vie for a slot in Masters.
Jeopardy! Masters (primetime) – 2023 to present, features the six highest-ranked Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.
Celebrity Jeopardy! (primetime) – 1992 to present, has celebrities compete against each other to raise money for charity.
Pop Culture Jeopardy (streaming) – 2024 to present, will feature teams of three tasked with pop culture trivia on Amazon Prime, hosted by Colin Jost, airdate TBD
Jeopardy! has done away with specialized tournaments like its College Tournaments, Kids Week, and Professor’s Tournament to gear towards a more sports-like model, with Masters being the top of the Jeopardy pyramid.
Other versions of Jeopardy! have fizzled out throughout the years as well, like Sports Jeopardy!.
And none other than Jeopardy! host will be starring alongside the 50 First Dates star.
KEN’S HOLLYWOOD MOVIE STINT
In the trailer for Happy Gilmore 2, Jeopardy! host and winner Ken, sports radio host and commentator Stephen, and rapper Cam’ron all make cameos talking about Happy Gilmore.
Taking to Reddit, one eagle-eyed fan spotted Ken and said: “Ken in Happy Gilmore 2??
“Did anyone catch that glimpse of him in the trailer?! I squealed!”
Someone then replied with: “I think it will be a super brief cameo.”
A second then said: “I saw this and wondered if he would play the Bob Barker role. Love Ken but I don’t see him faring well in a brawl against Happy.
“But it has to be something related to that storyline, I’m very curious where they go with that.”
Ken first appeared on Jeopardy! in 2004 as a contestant[/caption]
Matt Damon is an esteemed Hollywood actor[/caption]
