Ken Jennings ‘terrified’ to play against this ‘Jeopardy!’ challenger again

Who is James Holzhauer?

Famed “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings, 49, revealed earlier this month that he will most likely never again compete in the iconic game show because he is afraid to compete against one person: James Holzhauer, 38, the recently crowned “Jeopardy! Masters” champ.

“Let me be very clear and on the record here: It’s because I’m terrified of playing James because I think he would win,” Jennings confided to Deseret News. “I’m very happy to be retired from ‘Jeopardy!’ because I think I got away with one in the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) tournament.”

Jennings told the Utah-based outlet that the self-proclaimed “villain” of the tournament “would just wipe the floor with me if we had to play again. So I feel very lucky to be retired — ain’t gonna be no rematch.”

Jennings’ remarks about Holzhauer came after revealing he was shocked that the show hired him to co-host alongside Mayim Bialik following Alex Trebek’s death in 2020.

“If I were hiring for that job, I would go with a sturdy broadcaster with decades of experience, not just somebody who happened to be good at the show many years ago,” the Washington native confessed. “But luckily they took a chance on me.”

According to Jennings, hosting the syndicated show is his “dream job.”

“I kind of have to pinch myself every day. I do not take it for granted,” he said. “I was 100% confident I would not get a shot at the job — because that would be insane.”

The Post reached out to Jennings and Holzhauer for comment.

Holzhauer’s playful rivalry with the trivia show host comes after Jennings beat him in the 2020 “Greatest of All Time” tournament.

Recently, Holzhauer reignited the mock feud when he wrote, “Stop ducking a rematch, Ken,” as one of his Final Jeopardy answers.

The duo were then engaged in nerd flirting after Jennings joked that he refers to James as “‘elegantly erotic but full of enchanting terror.’”

“Keep it in your pants, Ken,” quipped Holzhauer, who later joked they had to stop filming so Jennings could “take a cold shower.”

This past season of “Jeopardy!” showed fans a new side of the host when Jennings clapped back at seemingly ignorant fans who attempted to question his rulings.

“I am once again asking Americans to buy a dictionary,” slammed Jennings in a tweet after one fan claimed in April that the words “sake” — like the Japanese alcoholic beverage — and “jockey” did not rhyme.

“Love when English changes foreign words, I guess,” responded the Twitter user.

Jennings responded to the snide comment by saying “Yeah, I’m always mad when people say the ‘s’ in Paris. Shameful.”