hayley erin alex trebek collage
Credit: Craig Sjodin/ABC, J. Graylock/JPI

Like the rest of us, the former General Hospital star was a big fan of the game-show host. 

As news spread on Sunday that Alex Trebek had passed away, Hayley Erin reminded us of the special role the Jeopardy! host played in her life. After all, it was he who presented General Hospital’s much-missed Kiki with her statuette after Erin was named Outstanding Younger Actress at the 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards.

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“I’ll never get over the fact I got to share this moment with my hero,” Erin tweeted Sunday afternoon, along with a clip from the Emmy broadcast. “Thank you for sharing your joy of knowledge with the world, and never holding back a good quip. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Alex Trebek.”

The night would be a big one for the host, too, as he later received a standing ovation after being named Outstanding Game Show Host. (Having been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer only a few months earlier, he joked to the audience about having won “the sympathy vote.”)

Erin’s fans have long known of her love for both the quiz show and its host. Back in 2018, she was thrilled when the soap she then called home wound up being featured. “I haven’t missed an episode of Jeopardy! in… I couldn’t tell you how long,” she tweeted at the time. “I literally watch every day and shout answers at the TV like a maniac. So you could say I’m a little excited about tonight’s General Hospital category.”

Other soap stars also took to social media to express their sorrow at Trebek’s passing. Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Melissa Fumero (Adriana, One Life to Live) recalled that growing up, “my parents would watch [Jeopardy!] every day. Alex always seemed like such a good man. RIP and condolences to his loved ones.”

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Fellow Canadian transplant Jason Thompson (Billy, The Young and the Restless) said their home country was “proud of a great man,” while Darin Brooks (Wyatt, The Bold and the Beautiful) sent out a tweet the quizmaster would have appreciated, given that in true Jeopardy! style, the tribute took the form of two questions. “Who is… Alex Trebek? What is… a legend?” he wrote. Likewise, Cait Fairbanks (Tessa, The Young and the Restless) said simply, “What is… we love you Alex?”

A cause of death was not immediately released, although the official Jeopardy! Twitter account told fans that Trebek “passed away peacefully at home early this morning, surrounded by family and friends.” He is survived by his wife, Jean, whom he married in 1990, and his three children.

While Trebek never actually appeared on a soap, it seems appropriate to remember some of the daytime stars we’ve lost so far in 2020. Pay your respects by clicking on the gallery below, then visit the comments to share how Trebek and the much-loved show he hosted impacted your own life.