LeVar Burton is Ready to Compete For a Full-Time Spot as Jeopardy! Host

It may have taken a massive fan campaign to get LeVar Burton on Jeopardy!, but the prolific performer is not going to let his time behind the podium go to waste. During a Monday morning interview on The View, Burton revealed that he's gunning for a spot as the quiz show's permanent host. "I'm eager to put my skills up against those of anyone else in contention, and then let the chips fall where they may," said the former Reading Rainbow host. Watch your back, Ken Jennings.

"The fact that you've been the hands-down favorite to guest host Jeopardy! was extraordinary to see. 250,000 people signed an online petition to get you that slot. I mean, it must just knock you out that people adore you," The View's longtime moderator Whoopi Goldberg said at the top of the interview. "How cool is that?"

A fan favorite to guest host @Jeopardy soon, @levarburton says he’s “absolutely” throwing his hat into the ring to be permanent host.

“I am eager to put my skills up against those of anyone else in contention and then let the chips fall where they may.” https://t.co/cVclFZQmjA pic.twitter.com/FjoRDrKcVq

— The View (@TheView) April 26, 2021

Burton explained that "it's such a wonderful feeling to be at the center of that much grace," before joking that Goldberg certianly understands the feeling. "Well, not everybody beloves me," replied Goldberg with a laugh. "But some, maybe. None that I married."

Joy Behar then asked if Burton, "a longtime fan" of Jeopardy! and the winner of Celebrity Jeopardy! in 1995, is looking beyond his stint as guest host. "Are you throwing your hat into the ring for a permanent gig?" she asked. "And also, besides that, do you think that because of what Whoopi just pointed out that you then have a leg up on the situation? Because everybody wants you there."

"I do, and you're right. For a long time -- 2013, I tweeted for the first time how much I would love to have that job when Alex [Trebek] retired," replied Burton. "The important thing for me is that I have an opportunity to compete for the job, and that's all I've ever really wanted."

Elsewhere on The View... Joy Behar railed against Sen. Lindsey Graham, who denied the existence of systemic racism in a Sunday interview on Fox News. "Somebody needs to give Lindsey a globe, tell him which country he's living in," said Behar. "Is it possible for somebody to get dumber as they get older? I don't remember him being this bad when he was a younger guy. What the heck happened to this guy?"

"Systemic racism is not about tokenism. It is not about the vice president being black or the president being black. It's about what goes on in the lives of everyday people in this country," she continued. "I'm just appalled by Lindsey Graham."

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Claire Spellberg Lustig is the Senior Editor at Primetimer and a scholar of The View. Follow her on Twitter at @c_spellberg.