'Jeopardy!' contestant surprises Alex Trebek with heartfelt message

What is... we're crying?
By Nicole Gallucci  on 

It's not often that Jeopardy! makes you want to break down sobbing, but since host Alex Trebek revealed in March that he'd been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer, viewers have been showing him some extra love.

In September, Trebek announced that he would need to undergo additional chemotherapy treatments, and as he remains hopeful and upbeat, both viewers and contestants are supporting him.

In the "Final Jeopardy!" round of Monday night's episode, an especially touching moment occurred when contestant Dhruv Gaur shared a heartfelt message with Trebek during the show.

"Dhruv, you're smiling. I like that. Let's take a look at your response," Trebek said. "Did you come up with the right one? No. What is, 'We love you Alex,'" he continued in a choked up voice. "That's very kind of you. Thank you."

Gaur's incorrect response cost him $1,995, leaving him with just $5, but he shared on Twitter that he's "really glad" he "got the opportunity to say to Alex what everybody at the tournament was thinking."

"For context, Alex had just shared with us that he was reentering treatment for pancreatic cancer. We were all hurting for him so badly," Gaur explained. "When Final Jeopardy came up, I could've tried to puzzle it together, but really, just kept thinking about Alex."

The clip of Gaur's response nearly moving Trebek to tears spread rapidly online, and many shared their love for the host using the hashtag #WeLoveYouAlex.

Competitors in Jeopardy!'s Tournament of Champions are also organizing a charitable play along on Nov. 14 and 15 and encouraging viewers to donate money to the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research in Trebek's honor.

Alex Trebek is a real one, and Jeopardy! fans aren't going to let him forget it.

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Nicole Gallucci

Nicole is a Senior Editor at Mashable. She primarily covers entertainment and digital culture trends, and in her free time she can be found watching TV, sending voice notes, or going viral on Twitter for admiring knitwear. You can follow her on Twitter @nicolemichele5.


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