Mayim Bialik left fans stunned when she revealed she had been fired from the popular game show in December 2023.

A source close to Jeopardy! exclusively told The U.S. Sun that the main reason for Mayim’s departure was the star’s refusal to share the spotlight with her former co-host, Ken Jennings.

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Mayim and Ken famously served as rotating hosts of the syndicated game show from 2021 until December 2023.

On December 15, Mayim stunned longtime Jeopardy! viewers when she posted a message announcing her dismissal on her Instagram.

“Sony has informed me that I will no longer be hosting the syndicated version of Jeopardy!” she wrote, before thanking “the fans, contestants, writers, staff and crew of America’s Favorite Quiz Show.”

The message included that she was “incredibly honored” and “deeply grateful” to have been nominated for an Emmy Award and been a part of the Jeopardy! family.

But an insider close to the Jeopardy! producers and Sony executives running the show says otherwise.

‘SHE WANTED SOLE HOSTING JOB’

“The bottom line is that she wanted the sole hosting job and Sony wasn’t willing to give that to her, and she decided to walk away because of that,” a source told The U.S. Sun exclusively.

“Mayim’s exit was a dance of egos because she didn’t want to look bad and neither did the Sony executives overseeing the show,” the source added.

“But by the time Mayim made her announcement, the writing was on the wall that she wasn’t going to get the full-time hosting job.”

Mayim had been splitting hosting duties with Ken, former Jeopardy! champion-turned-host until the Writers Guild of America strike began in May 2023.

The strike caused her to miss the show’s final week of filming, with Ken brought in as her replacement and remaining host ever since.

STONY SONY

The insider also claimed Sony wasn’t “surprised with Mayim making the announcement herself,” but they were concerned it would paint them in a bad light.

“The top TV executive at Sony [Katherine Pope] is incredibly paranoid about any kind of bad press and is always trying to keep up appearances,” the source claimed.

“The timing of Sony’s statement is certainly consistent with how this executive likes to sweep any problem under the rug as quickly as humanly possible.”

Within an hour of Mayim’s announcement, Sony responded by posting their own statement on the Jeopardy! Instagram account.

They confirmed that Mayim had already revealed the news and said they had “made the decision to have one host for the syndicated show next season to maintain continuity for our viewers.”

Jeopardy! Host Timeline

Jeopardy! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts after the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are all of the hosts since the game show’s inception in 1964.

Art Fleming – 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.

Alex Trebek – 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted Jeopardy!’s modern iteration for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.

Guest hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested out a series of guest hosts for week or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton, and Aaron Rodgers.

Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for one week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.

Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.

Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the longest-winning contestant ever) joined Mayim as a guest host and they split hosting duties.

Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a lengthy hiatus, having stood with the writer’s strike, and Ken was named sole host.

Ken now helms all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the nightly show, and other primetime specials like Masters.

They also confirmed Ken would be the “sole host” for syndicated Jeopardy!

“Sony’s statement was absolutely meant to close the door on the ‘Mayim era’ and not open up another can of worms,” the source told The U.S. Sun.

“I do think if Mayim had a lot more support from fans and from the online ‘Jeopardy!’ community — which she certainly did have during her years on ‘Big Bang Theory’ — her time at the show would have ended differently, if at all.”

Mayim was famous after starring as Amy Farrah Fowler in The Big Bang Theory.

After being introduced as a guest in the show’s third season, the fan favorite returned in a main role until the series ended in 2019.

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‘NOT SURE’ SHE WANTS TO RETURN

The source also said show execs realized that the host role wasn’t a winning fit for Mayim – another primary reason behind the decision.

“Right now she has no relationship with the production and is moving forward with her other work,” the source continued.

“Acting is still her sweet spot, and that was pretty clear to the bosses at Sony from the beginning and apparently to Mayim by the end.”

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“She learned to host the show and love the process of making it, but everybody agrees this isn’t the work she was born to do — and that’s what lead to Sony parting ways with her,” the insider added.

“Nobody involved with the show is talking like Mayim is coming back anytime soon but it’s not hard to imagine the production being in a pinch and needing her to fill in again, especially if Ken was ill or had another scheduling conflict.”

Sony did leave the door open for Mayim’s return in their statement, writing they “hope to continue to work with her on primetime specials.”

Mayim has yet to host any Jeopardy! spin-offs since, including Jeopardy! Masters or Celebrity Jeopardy!

“I think the bigger question is, would Mayim say ‘yes’ if invited back as a fill-in? I’m not sure that she would,” the source claimed.

Since her departure from Jeopardy!, Mayim has reprised her Big Bang Theory role in an episode of the show’s spin-off, Young Sheldon.

She’s appeared on Celebrity Wheel of Fortune as a contestant, on an episode of The Tiny Chef Show, and on HGTV’s Celebrity IOU.

Next, she’ll star alongside Cate Blanchett and Adam Driver in an upcoming comedy-drama anthology film titled Father, Mother, Sister, Brother.

Mayim also co-hosts a podcast, the Bialik Breakdown, with her boyfriend, mindfulness expert Jonathan Cohen.

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