"Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek talked about rumors that he plans to retire from the long-running syndicated quiz show, indicating they may be premature, reports the Los Angeles Times’ Show Tracker.

"Everybody’s speculating on my retirement and I don’t know why," Trebek told the publication. "It’s silly. Somebody asked me if I’ve given any thoughts to retiring. Well, yes, I’ve given thoughts to retiring, for crying out loud. I’ve been doing the show for 29 years. Why wouldn’t I think about retiring? Everybody assumes from my having said that, that he’s retiring. Well, no. I’ve been thinking about it. So allow me to think about it."

Reports surfaced recently that Trebek would step down at the end of the 2015-16 season, with rumors that potential replacements could be CNN’s Anderson Cooper or "Today" co-host Matt Lauer, as previously reported.

When Trebek does decide to retire, he said that it will probably be a quick goodbye.

"There won’t be any fanfare," he said. "It’ll be like the time I shaved my mustache on a whim. I’ll just ask the director to leave me 20 or 30 seconds at the end of the program to say a few words and I’ll say a few words and thank people and be on my way."

Asked who should replace him, Trebek said it could be "anybody." He added, "Could be a woman. I don’t concern myself with that because that is not a decision I will be involved in."

He noted, "I hope I’ll be hard to replace. That would be a good thing for my legacy. But anybody can be replaced."

Alex Trebek