Mike Richards was announced as the official host of daytime Jeopardy! earlier this month, but the star is at the center of a scandal involving offensive comments he told in a resurfaced podcast.
Richards, an executive producer on the game show, was previously known for his work on The Price Is Right.
The podcast in question was called The Randumb Show, which was a Price Is Right-themed show.
According to The Ringer, the star made several offensive comments, including that one-piece swimsuits make women “look really frumpy and overweight.”
There are even worse comments, which you can read if you go directly to The RInger.
The outlet reached out to Richards’ agent about the comments made on the podcast. The hosting site, as well as the podcast were subsequently pulled down.
“It is humbling to confront a terribly embarrassing moment of misjudgment, thoughtlessness, and insensitivity from nearly a decade ago,” Richards shared in a statement.
“Looking back now, there is no excuse, of course, for the comments I made on this podcast and I am deeply sorry.”
“The podcast was intended to be a series of irreverent conversations between longtime friends who had a history of joking around. Even with the passage of time, it’s more than clear that my attempts to be funny and provocative were not acceptable, and I have removed the episodes.”
He added that “my responsibilities today as a father, husband, and a public personality who speaks to many people through my role on television means I have substantial and serious obligations as a role model, and I intend to live up to them.”
Jeopardy! lost its host Alex Trebek last year, and the show opted to have a rotating list of hosts as a decision was made on who would stay on.
Mayim Bialik was also announced to be hosting primetime specials of the series.
Richards being named the host of the daytime iteration sparked a mixed response from fans, with many believing there were other people better suited to the post.
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.