Ryan Reynolds is throwing his support behind LeVar Burton as the new host of Jeopardy! following the ouster of Mike Richards.
The actor cryptically addressed the Reading Rainbow icon’s campaign to helm the game show on Twitter by comparing the situation to his role as Deadpool.
“Pretty consistently from 2013 to 2015 Deadpool would explode on Twitter with fans wanting me to play him. It was awkward because I agreed with them but the studio didn’t see it. Ultimately the fans won and the rest is glorious history. I’m forever grateful,” he tweeted on Friday before adding a cheeky “Hi @levarburton” at the end.
Burton quickly took note of the shout-out and responded directly to the tweet using a series of praying hands and purple heart emojis. Check out Reynolds’ clever endorsement of Burton, as well as the actor’s grateful response, below.
Reynolds appeared in one of the late Alex Trebek’s final episodes of Jeopardy! in November 2020. The host also makes a cameo in the actor’s new movie, Free Guy.
“We shot that separately, actually after the film had been completely done and dusted and completed,” the Canadian actor told E!’s Daily Pop earlier this month. “Alex was kind enough to jump in and do this little cameo for us. I was just so blown away by how sweet he was to do that.”
Burton, who previously hosted the PBS series Reading Rainbow, was asked to be one of the guest hosts on Jeopardy! due to fans’ excitement. The show also featured stars like Aaron Rodgers and Robin Roberts as it sought to find a more permanent replacement following the death of the longtime host.
While Burton has yet to respond to Richards’ exit, some people speculated — or perhaps just hoped — that his well-timed tweet of “Happy Friday, ya’ll!” could have been a subtle nod to Richards’ stepping down. Whether Burton is holding out hope or not for the gig, it seems that Reynolds certainly is.
