Ken Jenningsreflected onAlex Trebek’s enduring legacy on the one-year anniversary of the belovedJeopardy!host’s death.
“I miss Alex a lot,” he begins in the clip. “When I’m in here I feel like he’s probably in the building somewhere. It’s hard not to talk about him in the present tense.”
Jennings also opens up about receiving a special gift from Trebek’s wife Jean before he began his firstguest hosting stintin January.
“The first day I came in to guest host was just a few weeks after Alex passed and it was a really rough time,” he says. “I got to the studio and one of the producers handed me a little box, and Alex’s wife Jean had given me a pair of his cufflinks that he had worn on the show.”
He continues, “What a lovely gesture that was from Jean — at a time that was very hard for her family, dealing with a lot of grief and a lot of challenges.”
“She thought aboutJeopardy!and she thought about me, a person she had never even met, and I just thought, what a lovely thing to do. She’s fantastic,” Jennings concludes. “My Alex Trebek cufflinks are the only cufflinks I own — they’re kind of a good luck charm for me here.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Jennings andBig Bang TheoryalumMayim Bialikare currently splitting theJeopardy!hosting duties through the end of 2021while the show continues to search for a permanent host. The previously announced host, former executive producerMike Richards,stepped downin August amid aseries of scandals.
Alex Trebek.Eric McCandless via Getty Images
Bialik, 45, also posted a tribute to Trebek on Monday, sharing a message alongside an old photo of him.
“Remembering the passing of the great Alex Trebek a year ago today,” the actress and neuroscientistwrote. “Alex was a legendary entertainer, philanthropist, and lover of life. We miss you, Alex.”
Jean, meanwhile, posted a clip onInstagrampromoting the Compassion Project, an organization she and Trebek had partnered with prior to his death.
“My beloved husband passed away one year ago… one of his final messages was that of the importance of having compassion for each other,” she captioned the post. “In honor of Alex’s beautiful and powerful life, please take a moment to watch this short video.”
source: people.com
