NBCJames Holzhauer has decided to give back after successfully being the long-standing winner on Jeopardy.
The champion has raked in an eye-watering total of $2,462,216 after an impressive 32 straight wins on the US gameshow. Now the 32-year-old has revealed he’s donated a portion of his winnings to charity, under host Alex Trebek’s name.
It comes after 78-year-old Trebek opened up about fighting pancreatic cancer.
Holzhauer donated $1,109.14 to the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk in Naperville, Illinois ‘for Alex Trebek and all the other survivors.’
It might seem like a random amount of money to give, but the numbers actually represent his four-year-old daughter’s birthday.
During what turned out to be the Las Vegas gambler’s last show, Trebek thanked him for the card his daughter had made him.
NBC‘I want to express my thanks to your beautiful little daughter, Natasha, for having made this get well card for me. That was very sweet of her,’ he said.
Ann Zediker, a host raising money in the fight against pancreatic cancer, decided to invite Holzhauer to a fundraiser after seeing him on the show.
While he was unable to make the event, Holzhauer said he would gladly make a donation as he lost his father to the disease in 2010, making it a cause close to his heart.
NBCIn an interview with CNN, Zediker said:
There was no expectation on my end. I was just thrilled that he responded. I knew that Alex’s story had an impact on him, just like it has an impact on anyone who’s working with a family member who’s going through pancreatic cancer.
Trebek opened up about his condition in March, he’d been diagnosed with stage four cancer.
Pancreatic cancer only has a nine per cent survival rate, but the gameshow host told PEOPLE in May that he’s in ‘near remission’ after responding well to chemotherapy.
In the interview, he said:
It’s kind of mind-boggling. The doctors said they hadn’t seen this kind of positive result in their memory. Some of the tumors have already shrunk by more than 50 per cent.
Holzhauer will to return to the show for the 36th season for Tournament of Champions edition.
Here’s to wishing Trebek all the best with his treatment.
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Emma Rosemurgey is an NCTJ trained Journalist who started her career by producing The Royal Rosemurgey newspaper in 2004, which kept her family up to date with the goings on of her sleepy north east village. She graduated from the University of Central Lancashire in Preston and started her career in regional newspapers before joining Tyla (formerly Pretty 52) in 2017, and progressing onto UNILAD in 2019.