The wife of the late 'Jeopardy!' host opened up about what the support from his fans has meant to her.
Jean Trebek is speaking out following the November death of her husband, Alex Trebek. The pair tied the knot in 1990 and shared two children.
Now, in her first televised interview since the Jeopardy! host's death, Jean, 56, opens up about what it meant to both her and the TV personality to get the support of his fans during his cancer battle.
Jean speaks with Savannah Guthrie for the NBC News special, Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List, and a preview clip of the interview was featured on Wednesday's Today show.
"I think right now, talking with you, I'm good," she says. "I absolutely have moments of waves of grief that just come over me. I miss him a lot."
She said that she was surprised by the outpouring of love and support her husband received following his diagnosis with stage four pancreatic cancer.
"I think Alex was [surprised] too," Jean shares. "I think one of the beautiful things, the blessing that came -- if you can call it a blessing -- was that he got to really see the outpouring of love and admiration that he gave to the world. Some people, you know, you don't see that while you're still embodied. You don't get to really witness all the love that people feel for you."
Jean shared that the support was "a huge inspiration" for her husband prior to his death.
Alex went public with his cancer battle in March 2019 but continued to host the popular game show amid treatment.
"I think that one of Alex's gifts was that he could be very resolute and know that the truth will not hurt you and he wanted to empower people to move through whatever challenge they had in life with a sense of inner strength, inner dignity and love," Jean shares of her late husband.
Inspiring America: The 2021 Inspiration List airs Saturday, May 1 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
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