‘Jeopardy!’ Co-Host Mayim Bialik Opens Up About Feeling ‘Worthless’

Actress Mayim Bialik is getting support from "Jeopardy!" fans after she disclosed that she sometimes does feel "useless" and "worthless."

During a “Ask Mayim Anything” episode of her “Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown” podcast, she responded to a viewer that asked the “Big Bang Theory” alum if she sometimes struggles with feelings of “irrelevant.”

In the YouTube video uploaded last week, the “Blossom” child star answered a viewer’s question that asked: “What do you do when you feel useless, irrelevant, and worthless, or do you not ever feel that way?”

“Great question,” she responded in comments transcribed by the NY Post. “I do feel that way, and it’s kind of a hard question to answer because I know from where I’m sitting, obviously, I have a platform and I get to talk to people.

“I would say I am grateful I have the opportunity to be here, and I’m still a human and I often feel like what I’m doing is not what I’m supposed to be doing, or I’m not doing it well enough, or I’m not reaching enough people, or I’m not doing it right, or I look stupid,” she continued. “Just name the thing and I think it.”

“Some people like to surround themselves with people who will not make them feel useless, irrelevant, and worthless, but because I’m an actor person, I grew up in a world where everyone was, like, ‘You’re amazing,’ and it’s sometimes hard for me to lean into believing people,” she added.

Mayim explained that she tries to exercise, meditate, eat healthy foods, and take time for herself throughout the day in order to combat those negative emotions. She also encouraged her followers who feel “consistently or persistently useless, irrelevant, and worthless” to talk to someone or seek professional help.

The "Call Me Kat" star has faced vocal criticism from "Jeopardy!" fans who have not agreed with her style of hosting. Recently, executive producer Michael Davies spoke out to defend both her and co-host Ken Jennings about the criticism they both face from fans.

In a 2023 interview with Vulture, Michael Davies tried to defend the new hosting styles of the two new co-hosts, admitting that no one could ever replace the late host Alex Trebek, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2020.

"This show is so hard to host," Davies said. "Alex made it his own… I do read everything, and look, the strongest thing we’ve got is the passion of our fans. I wish many of our fans were more patient in understanding that we’re dealing with two hosts."

"Mayim is a very experienced actress. Ken is a very experienced ‘Jeopardy!' player. They’re both at the beginning of their hosting careers," Davies continued. "I’ll do everything I can to make this successful." He also explained that he takes feedback he gets from fans very "seriously."

Davies was then asked if a majority of fans seem to prefer Ken over Mayim, or Mayim over Ken. "I couldn’t give you an absolute number," Davies explained. "In terms of the tiny percentage of our audience that do go on Reddit or Twitter, there are Ken fans and there are Mayim fans. There are some people who love ‘Jeopardy!’ and will watch both. We also have various fans who post that they don’t like either of them."

However, he said that, when it comes down to the ratings, there is "zero difference" depending on who is hosting, noting that it's "exactly the same" between the two hosts. Although some fans only want one host of "Jeopardy!", the executive producer stands by his decision to ask Ken Jennings to come back and host, even if it meant stepping away from his role on "The Chase."

"I stand by the decision to bring Ken in and have Ken be a second host along with Mayim. I back both of them," Davies said, adding, "I go to the studio every day and try to make both of them better at hosting the show and make a better program environment around them. They have my full support."