LeVar Burton Dishes on Losing ‘Jeopardy!’ Hosting Gig: “Your Failures Are More Important Than Your Successes”

We’re coming up on two years since LeVar Burton guest-hosted on Jeopardy! while the game show was still searching for the late Alex Trebek‘s replacement — and he recently opened up about what it was like losing out on the permanent hosting gig to Ken Jennings and Mayim Bialik.

“Your failures are more important than your successes because you learn more from them,” he told People. “Everything happens for a reason, and it’s all purposeful and perfect. So where’s the perfection in ‘I didn’t get what I wanted’? I discovered that [it] wasn’t supposed to be mine, but the process that I went through led me to exactly where I needed to be.”

Burton — a longtime Jeopardy! fan — stepped into the hosting position for a week in July 2021. However, the job was given to Mike Richards the following month before he was forced to step down due to past derogatory comments. A year passed before Jennings and Bialik were officially named as the permanent co-hosts.

While the Jeopardy! job didn’t quite work out for him, Burton eventually landed a spot in Star Trek: Picard, where he got to revive Geordi La Forge —  his iconic character from the original series — in the third and final season of the reboot, which he called “absolute bliss.”

But that doesn’t mean it didn’t sting at first.

Back before Burton’s run on Jeopardy! aired, he explained why he would be a viable candidate to fill Trebek’s shoes.

“It’s difficult to explain, but there’s something inside me that says this makes sense. I feel like this is what I’m supposed to do,” he told The New York Times Magazine. “I have been watching Jeopardy! more or less every night of my life since Art Fleming was host. Jeopardy! is a cultural touchstone, and for a Black man to occupy that podium is significant.”

He continued, “Look, I have had a career for the [expletive] ages. Roots, Star Trek, Reading Rainbow. Won a Grammy. Got a shelf full of Emmys. I’m a storyteller, and game shows are tremendous stories. There’s a contest, there’s comedy, there’s drama. If you don’t know your [expletive] on Jeopardy! you’re sunk in full view of the entire nation. The stakes are high. I love that.”

In the same interview, Burton admitted that it would “hurt” if they decided to go in a different direction. However, he maintained the same positive outlook that he continues to preach now.

“If that happens, I will get over it. I will be fine. Remember: Everything happens perfectly and for a reason,” he said. “That is my default. It’s all going to be OK. Because it always is.”

Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7/6c on ABC. Plus, you can check out Burton in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, which is streaming on Paramount+.