‘Jeopardy’ host Ken Jennings was nearly ‘stabbed’ with a knife — then it took an unusual turn

Screenshots showing Ken Jennings participating in the ‘Is it real or is it cake?’ trend on Jeopardy! (Cover image source: YouTube/Jeopardy!)

While the game of “Jeopardy!” is serious, it doesn’t stop its makers from having fun around the set and behind the scenes. During the season break, the show has shared many blooper videos and funny outtakes, much to the delight of fans. However, one such trendy reel almost went wrong after Ken Jennings barely “escaped the knife.” In an old video from the show’s “Is it real or is it cake?” challenge, Jennings himself was put to the test, and he, in fact, turned out to be cake!
Screenshots showing Ken Jennings almost getting stabbed (Image source: YouTube/Jeopardy!)
 

In the video, the game show joined in on the viral trend to find out if everyday objects, like the different elements on set, were real or cake. The cameraman first took the knife to the contestant’s podium to see if it was real or cake. As expected, the podium turned out to be real and solid.

Next, the hand with the knife was seen turning to the host’s lectern, which, like the podium, turned out to be real. The next to be tested was the show’s iconic buzzer, which wasn’t cake either. At this point, viewers were wondering if anything on the show’s set was cake at all, and that is when a twist happened.
Screenshots showing the knife testing different items (Image source: YouTube/Jeopardy!)
The cameraman then turned his attention to the show’s host. As the text on the screen read, “Let’s try Ken Jennings,” the knife approached the host who was standing at the podium, minding his business. As soon as Jennings saw the weapon, he let out a scream. Shockingly, the video then transitioned to reveal that Jennings wasn’t real at all, but cake. A photo of him was put on a red velvet cake, with white and blue frosting. As the knife cut into the “Ken Jennings cake,” a voice said, “Wow, it’s cake! Yum!”

While it was obviously a joke, viewers of the show decided to play along. Fans on Reddit recently brought the old clip back to the limelight and carried the joke forward.  “Ken Jennings was cake this whole time? Bloody, meaty, screaming cake!” a user, @KentuckyFriedEel, joked on the thread. “Uh, I think you’re skipping over a few things that happened in the middle there, but all’s well that ends well, I guess,” added @DataDrivenPirate.
Screenshot of a comment (Image source: YouTube/@iggie9352)
 

Viewers in the comments of the YouTube clip also dragged on the joke to make it funnier. “Wow, I can’t believe Ken is actually cake. How do they get the cake to speak, though? Is there a speaker in the cake that reads off the questions? Technology these days will never cease to amaze me,” wrote @sabermoonlight. “You tricked me, I thought you were really gonna do the real Ken Jennings, but looks like it was just a cake with a picture on it,” added @Scerenebutterfly with some deadpan delivery.