Alex Trebek recently revealed that he's fighting stage-four pancreatic cancer. And while he's been able to soldier through the pain and discomfort of chemotherapy and continue taping Jeopardy!, it's not without its difficulties. In a new interview with CBS News, the long-time host revealed that his pain occasionally got so bad that he cried on set.
"This got really bad,” he said, of one particularly awful day. “I was on the floor writhing in pain. It went from a 3 to an 11. And it happened three or four times that day while we were taping. So, that was a little rough on me.”
He said that he was barely able to make it to his dressing room, but even still he refused to delay the show.
“I taped the show, and then I made it to the dressing room on one occasion, just barely, before I writhed in pain and cried in pain. I had 15 minutes before the next show,” he said. “So, I got myself together, and spasms of that kind usually last about 10 to 15 minutes. ‘All right, here we go again.’ But I got through it. And the producers were very kind. They said, ‘Look, if you don’t wanna do the show we’ll just cancel taping.’ I said, ‘No. We’re here. We’re doing the shows.’”
Forever unflappable, Trebek can't even bother to be frightened by his stunning diagnosis.
“It sounds impressive,” he said. “I’ve got stage four cancer, okay? Not stage one, for sissies, that’s just beginner’s cancer. I’ve got advanced!”
He added that he finds it easy to make light of his diagnosis, asking ""Well, what else are we going to do?"
