Getty Image / Eliot J. Schechter/NHLI
I’m sure you’ve seen by now that Alex Trebek + Jeopardy! are trending this morning. We are on the second week of the show’s ‘Tournament of Champions’ right now and last night during Final Jeopardy! a contestant surprised Alex Trebek with a heartfelt message.
Contestant Dhruv Gaur went into Final Jeopardy! sitting in last place which meant that Alex read his answer first. When Trebek revealed Gaur’s answer he was greeted with a message that read “We love you, Alex.”
The contestant sent out some tweets (I’ve got them below) explaining what led up to this moment but before you check those out, here’s that emotional clip with a visibly touched Alex Trebek.
This is so touching. pic.twitter.com/6KQ7MBNzDc
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 12, 2019
Here’s a YouTube version if you’d prefer that over Twitter:
So what exactly led up to this guy risking almost all of his money in Final Jeopardy! only to write in a message to Alex? I’m sure you know by now that Alex Trebek has been battling Stage 4 Pancreatic Cancer. His fight with cancer is getting tougher and he’ll soon undergo another round of treatment. All of this factored into that moment you saw above:
Sorry for west coast spoilers, but I’m really glad I got the opportunity to say to Alex what everybody at the tournament was thinking … 1/n
— dhruv gaur (@dhruvg_) November 12, 2019
…for context, Alex had just shared with us that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer. We were all hurting for him so badly. 2/n
— dhruv gaur (@dhruvg_) November 12, 2019
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. 3/n
— dhruv gaur (@dhruvg_) November 12, 2019
I’m just very grateful I got the opportunity to say what I know everyone was thinking. Sending all the love. #weloveyoualex
— dhruv gaur (@dhruvg_) November 12, 2019
Jeopardy! fans worldwide were choked up by this moment and took to Twitter to share their feelings. Within minutes #WeLoveYouAlex was trending nationwide:
Watching Alex Trebek get choked up during Final Jeopardy when a contestant burned his answer to share a special message, is more than I can handle tonight #WeLoveYouAlex. ❤️
— Amina Bobb Brattke (@AminaBrattke) November 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/travisakers/status/1194068274377580544
https://twitter.com/kristinajbakes/status/1194056837387165696
The #Jeopardy Tournament of Champions competitors are organizing a charitable play along to help fight pancreatic cancer. See below for details, play along, spread the word, and let’s do what we can to help win this fight. #weloveyoualex pic.twitter.com/wbdJxVecO9
— Dr. Lindsey Nicole Shultz (@lshultz82) November 12, 2019
https://twitter.com/TylerCaponeYT/status/1194058812635922432
As for his fight with vicious pancreatic cancer, Alex Trebek says he’s ‘hanging in’ and says he has no plans to stop hosting Jeopardy! anytime soon despite his battle.
Side note: Jeopardy James will appear tonight on Jeopardy‘s Tournament of Champions so be sure to tune in.