Alex Trebek 'looking forward' to returning to 'Jeopardy' filming after pandemic hiatus

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"Jeopardy!" will be airing its final original episode filmed before the coronavirus pandemic on Friday and like many other series on TV, the iconic game show isn't sure when production will start up again.

There is also concern from fans that longtime host, Alex Trebek, won't be returning as he's currently battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

But a rep from "Jeopardy!" rep told TVLine that "Alex is looking forward to resuming production as soon as we are able to do so. He’s told us he wants to be one of the first shows back in production.”

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In March, the Emmy-winning host updated fans about his health one-year after his diagnosis.

The 79-year-old said that he recently met with his oncologist, whom he discussed the good news with, as well as statistics on the disease.

"Hi, everyone. If you've got a minute I'd like to bring you up to date on my health situation. The one-year survival rate for stage 4 pancreatic cancer patients is 18 percent. I'm very happy to report I have just reached that marker," Trebek, who is not in remission, told viewers while standing in his "Jeopardy" studio.

He continued: "Now, I'd be lying if I said the journey had been an easy one. There were some good days but a lot of not-so-good days. I joked with friends that the cancer won't kill me, the chemo treatments will. There were moments of great pain, days when certain bodily functions no longer function and sudden, massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it really was worth fighting on."

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Trebek previously gave fans an update on his health in January, when he admitted at the Television Critics Association winter press tour that his resistance had become "lower than most" because of chemotherapy.

Alex Trebek attends 'Who is Alex Trebek? Celebrating 35 seasons of Jeopardy!' at 92nd Street Y on February 19, 2019 in New York City.  (Santiago Felipe/Getty Images)

The TV icon, who has been a fixture on the series since 1984, added that he has no plans to retire, so long as his health doesn't restrict him.

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“When you’ve been hosting, there are some of you who have been doing your jobs for many years," he said. "Some of you two or three decades. When you’ve been in the same job for that long period of time, it moves you to think at some point about retiring. Thinking about retiring and retiring are two different things."

Fox News' Melissa Roberto contributed to this report.