'Jeopardy!' Winner Cried While Telling Alex Trebek An Inspiring Story

Being on Jeopardy! was a dream come true for Burt Thakur. After being crowned the champion of Thursday’s episode, and earning $20,400 in the process, the contestant told host Alex Trebek, “I learned English because of you. And so my grandfather, who raised me, I’m gonna get tears right now… I used to sit on his lap and watch you every day. So, it’s a pretty special moment for me, man.” Then came the tears.

Trebek has been hosting Jeopardy! since the 1980s. Maybe conversing with contestants was fun for him then (probably not). But now, after decades of boring human-interest stories about librarians going ice skating in their free time or whatever, Trebek is usually either dunking on folks or sharing Krusty the Clown’s thoughts on talking to the audience (“Oh god, this is always death”). But he looked genuinely touched by Thakur’s story.

“As you heard a little bit, I’m an immigrant and I learned English by watching Jeopardy!, and my oldest memories are with my grandfather watching the show,” he said on the post-show recap. “So, to have it come full circle the way it did, especially during this time of pandemic and everything, to have this opportunity and this gift is, I mean, it’s so emotional and incredible.” You can watch the clip below.