For years, Alex Trebek was known as the heavily mustached host of Jeopardy!. Then in 2001, he decided to shave off his facial hair, instantly looking younger and more modern. The man kept the clean-shaven look for 13 years before popping back up with a mustache when Jeopardy premiered in September. It wasn’t to last. Recently, Trebek gave in and resumed the clean look, cutting out the mustache. He says the Jeopardy audience was influential in the decision-making process.
“At the beginning of the season, we asked our audience to let us know whether I should keep it or shave it, and the people have spoken: I am now clean-shaven. One voter in particular is relieved by the outcome – my wife – though I always say I can grow it back whenever I want if I am feeling adventurous.”
There are definitely pros and cons to sporting any sort of facial hair, and even more so for a person’s partner, who has to constantly deal with the tickling and rough feeling of the facial hair on his or her skin. His wife has spoken and the audience has spoken, and Jeopardy’s Tumblr just gave us a professional photo highlighting the before and after, seen above.
Now that we know what Trebek looks like once again, here’s a look at how his mustache has evolved over the years. Here’s how he looked early on in his Jeopardy career.
He later opted for a mustache as well as thick glasses, which totally transformed his face and began to make him look older in the 1990s.
By the time Ken Jennings was crushing records and making plenty of money on the show, Trebek had long since shaved his facial hair.
Here’s Trebek at the start of this season. The mustache he opted for is a lot thinner than the one he sported in the good ‘ol days, and we’re not sure whether the choice was made for fashion purposes or out of necessity. Even though the audience voted to get rid of the mustache, it will be missed by some.
So, have we seen the last of Trebek’s mustache? I’m sure his wife would say yes, but the Jeopardy! host does note that he could theoretically always grow the facial hair out again. Would you rather see the man with or without the mustache? Let us know your favorite look in the comments, below.
