Katie Couric to become first-ever female host of JEOPARDY!

Iconic journalist and New York Times bestselling author Katie Couric will become the first-ever female host of JEOPARDY! when she starts her guest host tenure on Monday.

Couric will host the show for two weeks.

She said she is a huge fan and watched the show “religiously” to prepare, including studying how former host Alex Trebek, who passed away in November, interacted with contestants. She said she hopes to honor the legacy of the show, but bring her own personality to her guest host duties.

“It is such an American institution and the opportunity to play a small part in the continuation of the show was something that I just didn’t want to pass up,” she said.

Couric said she is humbled to be the first woman hosting the show.

“To be the first woman on a show that stands for excellence and intelligence and integrity is a real honor for me,” she said.

Couric was the first woman to solo anchor a network evening newscast, serving as anchor and managing editor of the CBS Evening News from 2006 to 2011 following fifteen years as co-anchor of NBC’s Today show. Couric has won a duPont-Columbia, a Peabody, two Edward R. Murrows, a Walter Cronkite Award, and multiple Emmys. She was twice named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people and is the only woman to win Glamour magazine’s Woman of the Year award three times.

As a part of Couric’s appearance, a donation will be made to Stand Up To Cancer, a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, which raises funds to accelerate the pace of research to get new therapies to patients quickly and save lives now. The amount donated will equal the cumulative winnings of the contestants that compete during the weeks Couric will serve as guest host. The donation will be designated to pancreatic cancer research funded by Stand Up To Cancer and the Lustgarten Foundation through their Pancreatic Cancer Collective initiative.

“Jeopardy!” airs each night at 7 p.m. right here on Channel 11.

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