Laura Coates, Who Alex Trebek Named as Potential ‘Jeopardy’ Host, Says Producers Told Her ‘No’ (Video)
thewrap.commentioned Coates again in 2019.“I actually was as shocked as anyone else was when he first said it … and I was thrilled when he said my name,” Coates told Tamron Hall on Monday. “I thought, ‘My God.
This person that I have watched my whole life really, even knows my name let alone thinks that I would be worthy enough to fill his shoes which frankly can’t be filled?” she said.But Coates said she was shut down when she reached out to the quiz show’s producers when they were auditioning potential hosts.“I asked for the opportunity when it came time, when they were looking for people to possibly fill in,” she told Hall. “I certainly raised my hand and knocked on doors and found them closed.
I asked for the opportunity. I was told, ‘No.'”Former “Jeopardy!” executive producer Mike Richards, who had overseen the search for a replacement, named himself as the new host in August 2021, prompting heavy backlash against what critics said was a rigged selection process.
It ultimately came to nothing, however, as Richards ended up fired less than a week later, after past offensive comments, and his involvement in a wrongful termination lawsuit, came to light.
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