Photo: Jeopardy!
Journalist David Faber is winning fans over during his run as theJeopardy!guest host.
Faber, 57, will be taking over at the podium all week as thelatest star to guest hostthe hit competition show followingAlex Trebek’s death in November.
Though many viewers on social media expressed that they didn’t know Faber until hisJeopardy!appearance, he still got rave reviews after his first night hosting on Monday.
“I have no idea who David Faber is but he has a kind face,” one personwroteon Twitter, while anotheradded, “He’s actually doing the best job yet. Wow. I don’t even know who he is.”
Others shared that they could see him as the permanent host, with one fanwriting, “Who is the David Faber guy? I already like him for the job.”
“Wait a minute… Where did David Faber come from? This guy is a natural. It’s either him or KenJennings for permanent host,” someone elsepostedfollowing Monday’s show, referencingJeopardy!champ Ken Jennings, whohostedback in January.
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Faber’s ease on stage couls be because he’s not new to the show — in 2012, he competed in theJeopardy!Power Players Tournament and defeated former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Fox News anchor Dana Perino.
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He reflected on his past experience with Trebek in his introduction on Monday evening.
“I am so excited to be here. As a financial journalist, I live in a world of facts, and what I love is that that’s whatJeopardy!is all about,” Faber said. “Having also played as a contestant with Alex, I understand just how important it was to him that the players were able to perform at their very best. And I hope and intend to honor that standard as a guest host this week.”
Ahead of his appearance, Faber told producers in aninterviewthat he rewatched old episodes and “studied” Trebek to prepare. He added that the best advice he got on hosting was to simply be himself.
“Your amazing team here really just kept trying to get me to be myself,” he said. “You know, there are not that many opportunities in the game — because the game is the star — to show a lot of yourself. And really, I wanted to just focus on the gameplay. But they did tell me to smile, to try to have fun, which I tried to do, to loosen up a bit. That was all great advice, to be enthusiastic, obviously, and supportive of the contestants as well.”
source: people.com
