The host married his college sweetheart, Mindy Jennings, in 2000

NEED TO KNOW

• Ken Jennings joked that hosting Jeopardy! gives him a specific “parenting advantage” — and that it drives his wife “bonkers”
• Ken is married to his college sweetheart, Mindy Jennings
• The relatively private couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in September 2025

Ken Jennings revealed what drives his wife “bonkers” about his job hosting Jeopardy!

Ken, 51, caught up with PEOPLE exclusively at the opening night of the TCM Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, Calif., on April 30.

“Weirdly, [my job] gives me a bit of a parenting advantage,” he said.

“Like, if you're the host of Jeopardy!, your kids will believe you when you try to parent. And it drives my wife bonkers, [she'll be] like, ‘I just said that same thing. Why are you believing dad?' And they're like, 'Host of Jeopardy!’ ”

The former champion-turned-host has been married to his wife, Mindy Jennings, since 2000.

The pair met while attending Brigham Young University together and tied the knot shortly after they graduated.

While the pair are relatively private about their lives and relationship, Mindy provided some rare insight into her husband's personality while speaking to BuzzFeed in 2013.

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"He mostly wanted people to know he was funny," she told the outlet while recalling their college days.

"He's not the type of person who wants you to know he knows everything,” she added.

The couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary in September of 2025 by taking a special trip to Australia, and Ken posted a rare photo of the two in front of the Sydney Harbour to commemorate the milestone.

“I'm not sure where the years went or how I got this lucky, but this marriage is officially 25 years old. It can now rent a car!” he wrote in the post's caption.

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Ken and Mindy share two children together, a son Dylan, born in 2002, and a daughter, Caitlin, born in 2006.

While speaking to PEOPLE at the TCM Classic Film Festival, Ken revealed that his son is also particularly adept at trivia — but said he doesn't expect Dylan to make a career out of it.

“He doesn't want to compete in his dad's domain, and that's fine by me,” Ken said.

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