'Jeopardy!' host Ken Jennings would have Emma Stone on show 'in a heartbeat' if she passes the test
"Jeopardy!" host, Ken Jennings, is ready to welcome Emma Stone onto the show with open arms — but under a few conditions.
During a recent appearance on "Live with Kelly and Mark," Jennings told Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos he would have Stone on the show "in a heartbeat."
"She doesn't want to be on ‘Celebrity,' she wants to be on real original recipe ‘Jeopardy!' I mean, that's a hard show," he told the talk show hosts. He went on to say she wouldn't receive any special treatment and "would have to go through the same tests" as any other applicant.
The first step in applying to be on the game show is to take a 50-question online quiz. Then, if a person passes, they may receive an email within 12 months of submission letting them know if they've been chosen to move on to the audition round.
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Jennings joked Stone "might have a leg up" when it comes to the audition round, saying "she's probably pretty good on camera." During the audition round, applicants will play a mock version of the game and then give fun facts about their likes, dislikes, hobbies, career and so on.
"Now our viewers, if they want to be on the show, they can try out from home. You can take a test online, and then do a zoom audition," Jennings said. "We no longer make people go to the mall or to a hotel to audition for the show."
The "Jeopardy!" host's comments come after Stone revealed on the Variety Awards Circuit podcast earlier in January that it's her "favorite" show and her "dream" to be a contestant.
"You can only take the test once a year with your email address, and I’ve never gotten on the show," she told the podcast. "I watch it every single night and I mark down how many answers I get right. I swear, I could go on ‘Jeopardy!'"
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Jennings took over hosting duties in November 2021 when longtime host, Alex Trebek, passed away from a long battle with pancreatic cancer. It was announced in July 2022, he and "Big Bang Theory" star, Mayim Bialik, would take over as permanent co-hosts of the show.
From then on, the two took turns hosting the main show, while Bialik took on full-time hosting duties of "Celebrity Jeopardy!" Things changed in December 2023, when Bialik announced she was stepping down as the host of both shows, leaving Jennings as the sole host.
"I admire the celebrities for putting themselves out there, because I think people think it's going to be like the ‘SNL’ sketch, and it's going to be remedial ‘Jeopardy!,’" he told Ripa and Consuelos. "No this is legit ‘Jeopardy!’ that we make these stars play, and they are really good sports."
His first taping as the official host of "Celebrity Jeopardy!" began earlier this month, and featured Utkarsh Ambudkar, Mira Sorvino and Lisa Ann Walter as contestants.
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"The difference, of course, is that they’re very comfortable on camera," Jennings told The Hollywood Reporter in December 2023. "Some of them too comfortable, sometimes I have to be the mean substitute teacher who’s like, ‘Hey, like, stop talking over there, we need to play ’Jeopardy!'"