Good news, Big Bang Theory fans: Mayim Bialik may make her long-awaited return to the Alex Trebek stage earlier than anticipated. The former Jeopardy! host hinted at a possible return to the show in a Fox News Digital interview, in which she remarked about her time on Jeopardy! as “something I’m still very proud of.” Bialik famously co-hosted Jeopardy! alongside current host Ken Jennings from 2021 to 2023. But in the end, producers decided to go forward with a singular host, leaving Bialik on the outs. Now, nearly a year after her firing, Bialik is opening up about her relationship with Jeopardy!—and a potential future.
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“I really loved academia and I also really loved performing, and I think Jeopardy! was the closest that I felt to sort of being at kind of a grad school mixer because the writers and the researchers are so incredibly intelligent, kind of thirsty for knowledge, always trying to learn new things,” Bialik told the outlet.
In hindsight, Bialik said hosting Jeopardy! combined her zest for performing and academia, encouraging her to get back in touch with her “science communicator” side.
"I was always learning new things being there, and also I still got to be a presentational performer. So it really felt like it combined a lot of my favorite aspects of being a science communicator, which is what I was trained to do in college and grad school,” she continued.
Nowadays, Bialik hosts her own mental health podcast titled Mayim Bialik Breakdown and she recently added documentarian to her resume. And despite her sudden exit from the franchise, Bialik said she’s still an avid fan of Jeopardy! and its crew.
"I'm definitely still a fan of the show and very honored that I was nominated for an Emmy for my work there," Bialik enthused. "That is something that I got to change my bio, that I was nominated for Jeopardy! So, yeah, it's something I'm still very proud of.”
As for whether she’d ever consider reprising her hosting gig, Bialik had a loaded answer.
“We'll see what happens this season,” she said.
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Bialik was relieved from her Jeopardy! hosting duties for eight months before her firing was officially confirmed in Dec. 2023. Although a hot topic of discourse on social media, her leave of absence was never fully addressed at the time. It was largely speculated that Bialik was taking time away from the show to support the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors-Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes.
She briefly touched on this rumor in an interview with Vanity Fair, amplifying her support for “pretty much all unions and what they fight for.”
Meanwhile, other fans claimed that the timing of Bialik’s firing was rather odd and possibly backed by a political agenda. Bialik, who is Jewish and a self-proclaimed “staunch Zionist,” had been publicly outspoken in her support of Israel in the wake of the events of Oct. 6, 2023, and the ongoing Israel-Hamas War.
One X user called for a Jeopardy! boycott at the time of her firing, writing that the show “fired Mayim Bialik because she spoke out for Israel!”
In her interview with Fox News Digital, Bialik said she refrained from reading the comments on social media after she and Jeopardy! parted ways.
“I didn't read the comments and that's kind of an old practice of mine to try and maintain sanity. And also, I have a lot of respect for the Jeopardy! fans because it's a real legacy. It's a real legacy fandom, so it's super important,” she said.
