Ken Jennings from Jeopardy! Scolded for ‘taking Drew Basile out of the game’ with a move that ‘should have happened off stage’

DANGER! fans think Drew Basile’s game got messed up after host Ken Jennings paid him a compliment.

Many fans believe the moment should have happened off-screen because it seemed to confuse Drew.

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Alan Elverum, a senior quality assurance administrator from Henderson, Nevada, Staci Garner, a teacher from Chicago, Illinois, and returning champion Drew Basile, a graduate student from Birmingham, Michigan, faced off on June 25.

While Ken, 50, performed on the game show, he told Drew about a special person who watched him compete.

Before Jeopardy!, Drew was a contestant on the 45th season of Survivor.

“Speaking of Jeopardy!, Jeff Probst is a huge fan of the show. He hosted Rock ‘n Roll Jeopardy! back in the day,” Ken said.

Jeff has also been the host of Survivor since the first season.

“And he heard about your success on the show and he’s really excited, Drew,” Ken continued.

Drew wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a “phew.”

“He said, ‘What an amazing kid. He is incredible. He was amazing on our show.’ He was so happy to hear you were doing well here,” Ken said.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Drew replied dazedly.

“Your reputation follows you to the Jeopardy! set,” Ken said.

‘I SHOULD HAVE WAITED!’

Although Drew seemed to appreciate the compliment, fans thought Ken should have waited until after the show to tell him about Jeff’s comments.

“I thought Drew handled Ken’s Jeff Probst compliment really well,” said one Reddit user.

“He was there at the time and had to react. He was humble and honest, he just said he didn’t know what to say, but at the same time he showed that he was happy about it. .”

However, one fan disagreed.

Danger! Host timeline

Danger! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts following the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are every host since the game show’s inception in 1964.

Art Fleming – from 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.

Alex Trebek – From 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted the modern iteration of Jeopardy! for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.

Guest Hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested a series of guest hosts for one- or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton and Aaron Rodgers.

Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for a week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.

Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.

Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the winningest contestant of all time) joined Mayim as guest host and they shared hosting duties.

Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! After a long hiatus, having defended the writers’ strike, Ken was named sole host.

Ken now runs all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the late night show and other primetime specials such as Masters.

“I thought Ken should have waited until after the taping to tell him that. It seemed like this really upset Drew and took him out of the game a little bit,” they wrote.

“I think his comment confused Drew a little,” said another fan.

DESIGNED ON SURVIVOR

Drew was on Survivor during season 45.

He was in the Reba Four alliance, which consisted of him, Julie Alley, Austin Li Coon, and Dee Valladares.

Unfortunately, the alliance decided to turn against each other.

Drew was blindsided by his alliance and was eliminated during the final six.

He is the first Survivor contestant to be on Jeopardy!.

Drew was also the youngest contestant on season 45 at age 23.

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