Source: CBS Photo Archive / Getty
It’s finally happening! Reading Rainbow icon LeVar Burton will be making a guest host appearance on Jeopardy! this week.
After the passing of Alex Trebek last year, fans of the show were curious about who would step in to potentially replace the longtime Jeopardy! host. Many pushed for Burton to fill the beloved star’s position entirely, with some even creating an online petition in support of the actor.
Back in April, LeVar, 64, took to Twitter to confirm the big news with Jeopardy! fans tweeting:
“THANK YOU… to all y’all for your passionate support! I am overjoyed, excited, and eager to be guest-hosting Jeopardy!, and will do my utmost best to live up to your faith you in me. YOU MADE A DIFFERENCE! Go ahead and take my word for it, this time.”
Burton will take on hosting duties from July 26 to July 30. He joins a star-studded roster of special guests who have already surprised viewers including Anderson Cooper, Savannah Guthrie, and Bill Whitaker.
This isn’t the first time that Levar Burton has appeared on the revered game show. Burton won a round of Celebrity Jeopardy! in 1995 and donated his $14,500 cash prize to the Somalia Foundation.
However, this time around the star will be donating a part of his guest host charity to Reading Is Fundamental, the nation’s largest children’s literacy non-profit. The move makes so much sense considering his legacy as the host of Reading Rainbow.
“This is what I’ve been doing my entire career,” Burton said of the opportunity. “For 45 years, I’ve tried to use the medium of television to do more than simply entertain.
“I know that we have the opportunity — when we do it with consciousness — to inform, to enlighten, to educate, even uplift ourselves with the stories that we tell one another. And I see ‘Jeopardy!’ as absolutely in the sweet spot of that Venn diagram.”
Congrats to LeVar! You can tune into Jeopardy! tonight at 7:30 pm EST on ABC!
