Alex Trebek to fans: 'And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye'

“I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want,'” he said.

Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek has died. He was 80.

Trebek passed away peacefully at his home early Sunday morning. He was surrounded by family and friends. The longtime Jeopardy! host had been battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer. He first announced the news to viewers in March of 2019.

Earlier this year, Trebek told ABC News how he imagined he would say goodbye during his final show.

“I’ve kind of, in my mind, rehearsed it already, and what I would do on that day is tell the director, ‘Time the show down to leave me 30 seconds at the end. That’s all I want,'” he said.

“Don’t ask me who’s going to replace me because I have no say whatsoever," Trebek said. "But I’m sure that if you give them the same love and attention and respect that you have shown me … then they will be a success and the show will continue being a success. And until we meet again, God bless you and goodbye.”

Trebek has hosted the show since 1984.

“Because of the cancer diagnosis, it’s no longer an open-ended life; it’s a closed ended life because of the terrible survival rates of pancreatic cancer,” he told ABC News. “Because of that, and something else that is operating here, people all over America and abroad have decided they want to let me know now, while I’m alive, about the impact that I’ve been having on their existence.”