The contestant who brought Alex Trebek to tears with one of his responses says he could tell the long-time “Jeopardy!” host really needed some on-air love.
Dhruv Gaur appeared today on the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” to explain what he was thinking when he wrote “We love you Alex!” as his Final Jeopardy answer during the Tournament of Champions.
The segment was taped in mid-September, soon after Trebek, 79, revealed that he was going to undergo more chemotherapy in the hopes of knocking out his pancreatic cancer.
Gaur tells DeGeneres that Trebek greeted the contestants backstage before his segment was taped and “You could tell it was really tough for him.” When it became clear to Gaur that he wasn’t going to win the game — he lost $1,995 of $2,000 — he decided to “do something for this person who might need it right now.”
Gaur will be watching Thursday and Friday night’s “Jeopardy!” broadcast with his fellow tournament contestants. They will donate $1 per correct answer to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research. He invites viewers to join the challenge.
DeGeneres surprises Gaur with a $25,000 check for the Foundation, as well as a 75-inch TV for himself so he can correctly count those correct answers.