LeVar Burton is your new Jeopardy! guest host.
Ask and you shall receive! Actor, producer, and children’s television icon, LeVar Burton, was just named as one of the new guest hosts for Jeopardy!
The announcement seems to be a testament to the tenacity of fan support. In November, Joshua Sanders started a Change.org petition to advocate for Burton as the next host of the show.
Sanders wrote, “Between hosting 21 seasons of the educational Reading Rainbow, playing the brainiac engineer Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation, and filling the roll of Kunta Kinte in the ever important mini-series Roots, LeVar Burton has inspired and shaped the minds of several generations of trivia-loving nerds.”
Sanders wasn’t alone in her praise; nearly 250,000 people signed the petition.
As for Burton, he expressed a desire to host the show eight years ago. In 2013, he tweeted: “My dream job…? The new Host of #Jeapordy #bydhttmwfi #notevenkidding”
Who needs crystals when you have the power of manifestation? (We’ll just ignore the typo in his hashtag; more power to Burton for not tweeting and deleting.)
On Wednesday, Burton took to social media to voice his appreciation for the online campaign. He tweeted, “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 act as host from July 26th to July 30th. He is part of the final group of guest hosts for season 37, which includes Robin Roberts, George Stephanopoulos, David Faber, and Joe Buck.
