The heartfelt photo shows the couple on their wedding day, with Alex putting a ring on Jean’s finger. Jane wears a gorgeous white dress while Trebek wears a white suit.
They have lived together for nearly 30 years as a married couple and have two children, son Matthew, 29, a restaurant owner in Manhattan, and daughter Emily, 27, who works in real estate in Los Angeles. Trebek also has another daughter, Nikki, 53, from his previous marriage.
The love story Jane shares with her late husband Jamila: They met in 1988 through a mutual friend and fell in love quickly. At the time, Trebek was hosting Jeopardy! For just 4 years, he had recently separated from his first wife, businesswoman Elaine Kelly, according to People magazine. Jan worked part-time in accounting for a friend of Trebek.
Speaking to People in July 2020, Trebek opened up about how much of a rockstar his wife was to him upon being diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. “If it hadn’t been for Jane,” he says , “I would have gotten away with it a long time ago.”
In his memoir The Answer… Reflections on My Life, he talks in more detail about the love he and his wife shared, as reported by People. “With Jane it happened,” he wrote. “Sometimes you look at something, you look at someone and you know.
I mean, I’ve heard stories of people meeting and making decisions in half an hour; I knew that would be the person I would end up with. With Jenny, it was like that. I wasn’t looking for love. But I realized on an intuitive level that there was someone who would complete me as a human being.
While his wife also felt the same way, they both reportedly had reservations about the 24-year age gap. “At first I was worried,” Alex told People magazine in 1990. But then I thought, ‘To hell.’ We will make it work. “”
The marriage definitely worked out and the couple shared happy years together. In another interview with People in March 2019, Trebek said of all his decisions, “I’m very happy with my life.” He also wished he had met his wife sooner and added, “…If I had met Jane in my twenties, we could have had a longer life together.”
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