‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Makes Clue Error—’We Gotta Toss It’

Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings made an accidental error while reading out one of the game show’s clues.

On Thursday, Jeopardy!‘s official Instagram and TikTok accounts shared a video of Jennings’ gaffe alongside the caption: “Even the GOAT makes mistakes! We always have spare clues, so we just made a simple swap for broadcast! It’s like it never even happened … 👀 #Jeopardy! #bloopers.”

In the 18-second clip, someone off camera can be heard asking “‘Song Titles’ for two [hundred] please.”

The clue, which appeared onscreen for viewers to see, read: “PAINT IT ____ & BACK TO ____.” The correct answer was, “WHAT IS BLACK,” but Jennings gave away the answer.

“Paint it black and back to… Paint it,” the Emmy Award nominee repeated, before pausing. “We gotta toss it.”

“I think I was supposed to say blank there,” he added.

Newsweek reached out to Jeopardy! via email for comment.

At the time of publication, the video had racked up more than 1.8 million views and over 44,000 likes on Instagram and garnered an additional 549,000 views and over 51,000 likes on TikTok.

In the replies underneath both posts, Jeopardy! fans praised the game show host.

“I’m surprised this doesn’t happen more often! He’s such a pro,” Instagram user @charmaine.costello said in a comment with over 8,700 likes.

“A touch of Alex in him with the way he handles that gaffe,” @hunterdillon95 wrote in an Instagram message with over 4,100 likes, referring to late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. “Ken’s got a brilliant sense of humor.”

“Ooooo bloopers?!?? I just knew Ken was perfection. This actually makes him more perfect 🥹,” @_ucit_ added on the platform.

“Tbh, that one isn’t on him. Literally one letter off 😅,” TikTok’s @ababcock44 shared.

“More Ken BTS or outtakes!” TikTok user @angel3306x urged.

“Ken is literally the perfect replacement. Alex would be so proud 🥲🥲,” @KhajiitHasCoin chimed in on TikTok.

Jennings has been a familiar face on the long-running show since 2004, when the then-software engineer appeared as a contestant. He went on to make Jeopardy! history, winning 74 consecutive games and earning $2,520,700. According to Jeopardy! records, he’s the highest-winning player in regular-season play.

Alex Trebek passed away in November 2020 at the age of 80 after being diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer in March 2019. In 2020, Jennings became a Jeopardy! producer and later stepped in as host for the remainder of season 38, splitting hosting duties with The Big Bang Theory actress Mayim Bialik. During season 39, Bialik announced she would be stepping back from hosting to support the Writers Guild of America strike, and in 2023, Jennings became the sole host of the series.

Trebek hosted the show for 38 years, and Jennings said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in December 2023 that he hopes to follow in his footsteps.

“It’s impossible to fill those shoes, but it’s such an honor,” the 50-year-old said of hosting the beloved American television show. “Hopefully I look forward to 37 more years of doing it, when I’ll be a very, very old man.”