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Jeopardy player explains why he made Alex Trebek almost cry

Please give your tears in the form of a question.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
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Gael Cooper
2 min read

Forget answering in the form of a question. On Monday night's Jeopardy episode, a contestant chose to answer with a love note to host Alex Trebek. And it made the host, and many fans, choke up. 

For his Final Jeopardy answer while playing the Tournament of Champions game, contestant and Brown University student Dhruv Gaur chose to honor the show's longtime host, who revealed last year he has pancreatic cancer. 

Instead of attempting to solve the puzzle, Gaur wrote "We (love) you Alex." Trebek began to read the answer, then realized what he was reading and got a little choked up.

""That's very kind of you," he said. "Thank you. Cost you $1,995. You're left with five bucks. OK."

In a series of tweets, Gaur explained his decision.

"For context, Alex had just shared with us that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer," Gaur explained. "We were all hurting for him so badly. When Final Jeopardy came up, I could've tried to puzzle it together, but really, just kept thinking about Alex, and thought he should know. I'm just very grateful I got the opportunity to say what I know everyone was thinking. Sending all the love. #weloveyoualex"

After the show aired, the hashtag #WeLoveYouAlex began to trend on social media, and fans of the show praised Gaur's surprise action and Trebek's professionalism. "Alex is a legend and such a professional," wrote one viewer. "Finishes the show like a boss after an amazing moment."

Another followed the show's iconic answer-in-the-form-of-a-question format, tweeting, "The greatest game show host ever," and following it up with, "Who is Alex Trebek?"

And even the show's official account weighed in, tweeting, "Couldn't have said it better ourselves, Dhruv! #WeLoveYouAlex."

Gaur also shared that the contestants are organizing a charitable play-along to help fight pancreatic cancer, encouraging fans to donate $1 for every question they're able to answer correctly to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research.

Trebek himself has made a video message encouraging donations to fight the disease. "We will never give up hope," Trebek says in his message.