New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers was apparently close to landing the 'Jeopardy!' full-time hosting gig, according to former host and producer Mike Richards.
Richards, 48, who resigned as executive producer of the Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune game shows weeks after stepping down as the permanent host of Jeopardy! amid backlash over his controversial past in 2021, told PEOPLE.com that Rodgers "was definitely the most prepared" of the guest hosts that temporarily served following the death of beloved longtime host Alex Trebek.
"I was blown away by that, the intensity in which he prepped, and he was so lovely to everyone on staff," Richards said of Rodgers, who still played for the Green Bay Packers at the time. "But ultimately I worried about his other job that he does on a pretty high level. I was like, 'How are you going to work this out with football scheduling?' He said, 'You'll figure it out!'"
Richards then claimed he was personally thrown into consideration for the 'Jeopardy!' host due to his past on-air experience on 'Beauty & the Geek,' 'New Year's Rocking Eve' in 2005 and 'Million Dollar Pyramid.'
"No one was more surprised than me," he says. "They told me, 'We'd like you to be the host of the syndicated version of Jeopardy!' I paused, and said, 'Oh wow. Thank you. What's the media plan?' Because I was very concerned that this was going to be scrutinized as closely as a Presidential election. There was widespread belief that whoever got the job first wouldn't make it."
Richards publicly apologized for derogatory comments made about women on a podcast he hosted during his time working as an executive producer of 'The Price is Right' prior to his resignation in 2021.
“There is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry" and called it "humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago,” Richards said via Variety.com.
Richards' apology came in response to a detailed report by The Ringer, which addressed comments he made while hosting 'The Randumb Show' podcast, including referring to his co-host as a "booth ho." The Ringer found old episodes of 'The Randumb Show,' which Richards hosted from 2013 to 2014 and recorded in his office while working as an executive producer on 'The Price is Right.'
The initial report of Richards being the favorite to replace Trebek received criticism due to numerous other guest hosts auditioning for the role, but it instead ultimately being offered to the executive producer, even prior to reports of incidents that occurred during his time working on 'The Price is Right.'
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