LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — Scott Johnson hit the iconic Jeopardy! stage in November 2004.
At the time, Johnson was a radio announcer for WVLK. Now, he holds the news director position.
"People have been telling me for most of my life, 'You got to get on Jeopardy!, you got to get on Jeopardy!' I did!" Johnson said.
He appeared on Season 21, Episode 12 on Jan. 18, 2005.
"I made it!" Johnson recalled fondly. "I was on."
He said his one-on-one interactions with Alex Trebek were very limited, but he admired the legendary host.
"He was very good at what he did," Johnson said.
He remembered his professionalism and how he took the job seriously.
Trebek has also been caught off-camera joking with the audience.
"If you have no personality then you can't be a contestant," Trebek said during a past taping. "You could be the host of the show, but not a contestant."
Fifteen years after Johnson's appearance on the show, Trebek was diagnosed with stage-four pancreatic cancer.
"You'd kind of watch and see is he doing OK?" Johnson said. "How is he doing on this episode? Is he OK tonight? And he toughed it out."
On Sunday, the Jeopardy! legend passed.
"It was a shock," Johnson said. "It was a moment of ugh. As you thought about it, you'd say 'OK, he's not in pain now."
"Jeopardy!" announced that episodes Trebek has already taped will continue to air through Christmas Day. The show has not named a replacement.
