Amy Schneider Says She Prefers Jennings Over Bialik as 'Jeopardy!' Host

Former Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider has revealed that she prefers Ken Jennings by a "landslide" over Mayim Bialik as the pair have settled into their first full season as presenters of the popular game show.

It was revealed in July that Jennings and Bialik would be signing new Jeopardy! contracts after sharing the duties as interim hosts of the show for much of Season 38. They replaced beloved host Alex Trebek, who died in November 2020.

Former Jeopardy! executive producer Mike Richards was initially announced as the permanent host in August 2021, though he stepped down just nine days later amid a cloud of scandal. Bialik immediately filled in and was later joined by Jennings.

With Season 39 having launched last month with Jennings at the helm ahead of switching out with Bialik, fans of the syndicated quiz show have continued to voice their host preferences on social media.

Schneider also revealed her preferred choice as she took part in a Q&A session with fans of the show on Reddit on Tuesday.

Amid a flood of questions for Schneider, one fan asked the California-based former software engineering manager: "Ken or Mayim?"

"Ken in a landslide," responded Schneider, whose entire Jeopardy! run during Season 38 took place with Jennings as host. "No offense to Mayim, but Ken just *is* Jeopardy in a way that can't easily be replicated."

During an appearance on CNN's Reliable Sources in January, Schneider told anchor Brian Stelter that her mind had been made up about who should be named the permanent Jeopardy! host.

"I think Ken Jennings should be the host. I really, I can't say enough about him," she said, per Yahoo! Entertainment. "I didn't necessarily think that before going into this, because, yes, he was a great champion, but this is a different skill set.

"But you could see the work that he put into it, and I just thought he did a really great job, so as far as I'm concerned, that's my endorsement."

During her time on the show, Schneider made a huge impact as the first openly transgender woman to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. She is also the highest-earning woman in Jeopardy! history with the longest win streak.

After making her debut on the show during November 2021's Trans Awareness Week, the Ohio native went on to win 40 consecutive games, leaving her second only to all-time Jeopardy! champ Jennings.

Her hot streak eventually came to an end on the January 26th episode, when she was defeated by multimedia librarian Rhone Talsma, who was knocked out of the competition just one game later.

Schneider's endorsement of Jennings as the Jeopardy! host comes almost one year after she told Newsweek that she had backed another favorite for the coveted role.

"I didn't actually watch a ton of the guest hosts," she said in November, days after her Jeopardy! debut aired. "It felt really weird because everyone was in their first couple weeks hosting it, so seeing somebody new and slightly uncomfortable every time."

"I like Levar Burton," Schneider went on. "I had said years ago he ought to be the next host. But I understand he wasn't as solid as he and I had hoped he would be and I get that."

While Burton was a fan favorite to become Trebek's successor, his guest-hosting stint during the last week of July 2021 drew in the lowest ratings of all of the interim presenters who had tried out for the role. His week at the lectern was overshadowed by the Tokyo Olympics, among other broadcasts.

Still, Schneider said that she supported the decision to make Jennings and Bialik interim hosts in the meantime, telling Newsweek last year: "I will say that when they said it was gonna be Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik for a while, I was quite happy with that decision. I like both of them."

Schneider is set to return to Jeopardy! fold this fall to compete in the Tournament of Champions.