Ken Jennings jokes about ‘Jeopardy!’ hosting hiatus as fans beg for him back

Ken Jennings knows how to joke around with “Jeopardy!” fans.

Jennings, 48, is set to return to the podium at the end of this week after Mayim Bialik’s run hosting the “High School Reunion Tournament” special, which wraps up March 9.

Following the reunion tournament, Jennings’ episodes will run from March 10 through April 28. After that, he likely won’t be back as host of the syndicated episodes until September.

However, Jennings will helm the prime-time series “Jeopardy! Masters,” which features six notable “Jeopardy!” champions competing over 10 hourlong episodes. A premiere date has not been announced.

With Bialik, 47, currently hosting the new tournament, Jennings has been on hiatus and fans have been waiting for him to return.

One Twitter user asked Jennings what he did in his time off and the host poked fun in his response.

“@KenJennings just wondering how you spend your time when you’re not filming jeopardy,” the fan wrote.

In a tweet, the “Jeopardy!” legend quipped, “I go into one of those freezer cases from the Alien movies when Mayim is hosting, and vice versa.”

Though Jennings was joking about being put in a freezer, he has recently given fans a glimpse into what he has actually been up to in his time off-screen.

He revealed on Twitter this weekend that he has a new book, “100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife,” coming out June 13.

“Exciting announcement: my new book comes out in June! It’s a travel guide to the afterlife, from ancient Egypt all the way up to The Good Place. So you might want to order it soon, JUST IN CASE,” he wrote.

The “Jeopardy!” host’s joke comes shortly after fans appeared divided on the splitting of the hosting duties that were announced on a recent episode of the “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast.

Fans of the beloved quiz show responded angrily to the scheduling news when it was posted by the Twitter account “Is Ken Jennings Hosting Jeopardy! This Week?”

“Can we for the love of god just have Mayim host Celebrity Jeopardy! One of the contestants even admitted that her pacing and the way she reads the clues is just plain bad. There’s literally no reason why she should be hosting syndicated,” a person suggested.

“Jeopardy, stop trying to make Mayim happen. It’s not going to happen,” another quipped.

But not everyone was upset about the schedule.

“Mayim does a great job hosting. Some folks just can’t deal with a woman hosting a game show. I look forward to the Mayim shows,” one admirer attested.

“I watch these 2 and they are great hosts,” one fan fawned.

Bialik and Jennings were officially named hosts in July 2022, following a tumultuous era after Alex Trebek died of pancreatic cancer in November 2020 at age 80. A series of guest hosts took their shots and producer Mike Richards was given the mantle.

Richards ultimately resigned shortly thereafter, in August 2021, after reports of past misogynistic comments surfaced. Bialik and Jennings split duties following Richards’ brief tenure.