JEOPARDY! fans have spotted a “concerning” detail about host Mayim Bialik’s leaked texts.
She shared a private exchange on her Instagram that left followers “anxious.”
Mayim, 46, is currently hosting Jeopardy! for the fifth week in a row, returning after alum Ken Jennings’ prior three weeks and an announcement that he’d be out for “months.”
The fan-preferred former player surprisingly tweeted in May, “I’m handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) Mayim Bialik for a few months,” adding, “We are lucky to have her! I’ll be back before the end of the season.”
The permanent hosting slot is still on the board and will likely be decided by the end of Season 38 in July 2022.
Many fans prefer Ken since he famously won the most games of Jeopardy! himself in 2004 and seems like the natural successor to Alex Trebek.
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Critics have warmed up to Mayim, but taken issue with her difficulty multitasking on stage – namely, declaring if responses are correct with an earpiece in, no easy feat.
But she shared something on Thursday that sadly followed ‘suit.’
On June 9th, the actress gunning for the gig shared an Instagram photo to her grid featuring private texts with her mother Beverly.
“Bev asking if the warriors won tonight (She’s getting over jet lag after a trip to Israel, hence the sleep comments),” she captioned it.
The exchange Mayim chose to share saw her write, “Is your sleep normal pretty much?” to which her mom replied, apparently on the California team losing, “Getting there today. Sorry for your loss.”
While Mayim was seemingly trying to lighten the mood mid-week by talking basketball, the post didn’t score many points with followers.
‘DOZENS OF UNREAD TEXTS’
They noticed something “concerning,” Mayim had a massive 28 unread texts.
Many commented with surprise that she decided not to crop out her looming messages, let alone not respond to them.
“You’ve got a lot of texts to reply to. #28,” one user wrote.
Another commented, “Ya know. I’m glad I’m not popular. The 28 notifications makes me anxious lol”
A third wrote, “The 28 unread messages on YOUR phone is giving me anxiety.”
While a fourth simply commented on the overall strange share featuring less-than-stellar Insta-‘grammar’ usage, “Ummm ok.”
LEAKED CLUES?
It’s also unfortunitely not the first time Mayim got backlash for posting to Instagram.
Internet users noticed she was holding papers in her makeup-free selfie returning to set last month, and dozens soon buzzed in claiming the text had gameshow clues from an un-aired episode.
The once more well-meaning close-up photo featured the Blossom actress with her brunette hair in loose waves.
She captioned it, “Good morning,” with a smiley face emoji.
She donned a green sweatshirt and brown, wide-framed glasses paired with a smile – and yes, papers.
Fans realized her caption wasn’t the only text to be found.
They claimed three clues, including the all-important Final Jeopardy from an upcoming game, were visible – and figured out what they said.
A riotous Reddit thread was titled: “Inadvertent game material leak?”
The original poster wrote: “She is holding a broadsheet of clues. If you look closely enough, some of it is legible.”
They added: “I was under the impression that no game material is supposed to become public until the episode has aired.”
‘PICK UP THE PACE!’
On-stage, critics have noted Mayim’s continued difficulty with the balancing act that is hosting Jeopardy! – even after dozens of episodes.
A fan wrote on Twitter: “I like Mayim Bialik but she’s gotta pick up the pace on Jeopardy. That’s multiple shows now where they’ve run out of time with clues left on the board.”
Another surmised, “Let’s get @KenJennings to be the full time host of @Jeopardy! Mayim just doesn’t create a good flow from question to question. Nothing against her, Ken is just soo much better!”
A third wrote this week as the actress has had difficulty picking up the literal pace, “Mayim Bialik pauses for like a whole second and takes an entire breath before saying “That’s correct.” and it DRIVES. ME. CRAZY. Let’s keep it moving, man, there are clues on the board!!”
Another wrote, “Mayim has an inconsistent hesitation whenever she lets a contestant know whether or not they’re correct? #Jeopardy.”
Fans have noted Ken doesn’t have this lag because he often knows the responses having competed on the show he’s deeply familiar with so many times.
Mayim copped to the tough gig on a recent Howie Mandell podcast episode.
“Jeopardy feels like a combination … someone in your ear and you’re constantly calculating and talking and you can’t say ‘welcome back’ every break, you have to spread it out,” she said, explaining the tough task ahead.
Conversationally, the Q&A portion of the show has also seen her make an off-color joke about marijuana and misunderstand the legacy of the band Queen.
Mayim, who studied neuroscience, also replied to one contestant’s earnest autism testing Q&A with a joke: “Glad to hear spitting in a tube went better than taking blood,” the host bluntly said recently.
The duo began filling in for the legendary Alex after his tragic 2020 passing and a fleet of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts, including now-disgraced Mike Richards.
Even streak-holder Mattea Roach stated that she wanted Ken to take over.
“As a contestant, there is something really special about being on stage with the greatest player of all time,” she told Vulture.
The show’s ratings nearly doubled to 9.7M viewers when Ken made his first appearance.
When Mayim took over her hosting duties the headcount dropped to 5.9 million viewers during a college championship and dipped that low before beloved Ryan rode in – though Mayim still hasn’t bested Ken’s ratings.
The fact that the hosting slot is still undecided has been a huge point of discussion, as the late Alex had hosted since 1984.
Mayim was in the front seat for Ryan Long’s empathetic and enjoyable ride that ended this week – which Ken called a “hell of a run” on Twitter.
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There he’s been dropping hints about his low-key hiatus from hosting as fans miss him.
Ken revealed on a recent podcast episode he was doing more tapings of pre-recorded episodes this month, as many are leaning his way – while Mayim’s sitcom Call Me Kat was given the green light to tape and premiere in just months.
