Mayim Bialik Explains Why She Will NEVER Compete On 'Jeopardy!'

Actress Mayim Bialik has absolutely no plans to compete on "Jeopardy!" despite co-hosting the game show with "Greatest of All Time" tournament winner Ken Jennings.

Although "The Big Bang Theory" actress has talked about neuroscience for years, she doesn't think she would perform well due to the "psychological" pressure of competing against others on a strict time limit.

In an interview with Bill Maher on his podcast Club Random, the "Blossom" child star confessed that she "would cry" if she ever competed on the game show, despite hosting it for over two years now. "There's a rhythm that winners get into – there's a huge psychological component," Mayim said. "If you get something wrong, it can be debilitating. I would cry, I think."

She also made it clear that she plays no part in coming up with the questions. "People ask if I know all that stuff, and I'm like, 'no.' No," she said. "Answering things like that under pressure with a timer is not gonna happen for me. It's hard!"

She also admitted that "Jeopardy!" players who perform well on the show also have knowledge in a wide variety of areas, where her expertise is more specialized. "The knowledge I have is not necessarily Jeopardy knowledge. I'm trained in science, and I am a crossword puzzle person," she said. Although she admitted that she might do well on certain subjects due to her familiarity with "Hebrew and Jewish studies," she said that "18th-century British poets" would be a topic that she would struggle with.

Mayim Bialik shares co-hosting duties with Ken Jennings, although she temporarily left the show in May to show solidarity for the WGA writer's strike, which ended in September. Although she hosted the first season of "Celebrity Jeopardy!", Ken Jennings also took over hosting duties for season 2. Now that the writer's strike has ended, it remains to be seen if she will return to host a potential third season, although the show has yet to be renewed.

Both Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings were named as co-hosts of “Jeopardy!” following the death of late host Alex Trebek, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in November 2020.

Although both Ken and Mayim have faced backlash for the way they perform their hosting duties, executive producer Michael Davies has made it clear that the “show is hard to host” and has thrown his support behind both cohosts.

In a May 2023 interview with Vulture, Michael Davies said, “This show is so hard to host,” adding, “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, adding, “I’ll do everything I can to make this successful.” He also explained that he takes feedback he gets from fans very “seriously.”

Davies refused to state whether or not Ken or Mayim performed better with audiences.  “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, it comes down to the ratings, Davies insisted that it made “zero difference” who was hosting and said it was “exactly the same” depending on whether Ken or Mayim was hosting.

Although there are some fans who would love to see Ken step out from behind the podium and compete again, Ken recently revealed that he has retired from competing. When asked about Ken's retirement, Michael Davies said that he would "absolutely" love to see Ken face off against longtime opponent  James Holzhauer.

“Ken has very directly told me he’s retired from Jeopardy!. I understand the reason that no one who’s hosted can ever play again. But Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus played the Masters long after they were hosting tournaments on the PGA,” Davies explained, comparing “Jeopardy!” to golf. “I’m probably more open to the idea than other people, but that would never be my decision. Would I like to see Ken and James play again? Absolutely. We’ll see.”