[cheers and applause] this is "nightline." tonight, candid fight. alex trebek opening up about his battle with pancreatic cancer. his first interview since his diagnosis. >> my oncologist tells me i'm doing well. >> the public battles others have faced. the disease that has touched so many. plus, about face. the only anderson shaking up the catwalk. >> i want black models to understand that their voice matters. >> one of victoria's secret's newest angels preaching hermes am of inclusion. and dreaming big. what do michelle obama, john

legend and conan o'brien have in common? a sign of the times. but first, the "nightline" five. so i'm looking for someone to make my chicken bigger, tastier...the best. so what do you got? are you kidding me? i was literally born for this. ♪ thank you. ♪ make it super crispy. so? you had me at fried chicken pacifier.

try my new spicy chicken strips combo today. with 100% all-white meat chicken. good evening. thank you for joining us. he's a quiz show legend, the man we buzz in with every night. rsvisionnterview sceisattle wit.

a disease that has touched the lives of many. he is the master of the board. in control. >> alex trebek! >> sophisticated. and seemingly all-knowing. for 35 years and nearly 8,000 episodes, alex trebek has been the unflappable host of "jeopardy", making him one of the most enduring and recognizable people on television, even holding a guinness world record for hosting the most episodes of a single game show ever. >> let's have some fun. >> reporter: but just two months ago he shared heartbreaking news. >> just like 50,000 other people in the united states each year, this week i was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer. >> reporter: his announcement was classic trebek. confident, humorous, poised. >> i plan to beat the low

survival rate statistics for this disease. >> reporter: but as he told robin roberts, battling the disease has been a struggle. >> how are you? >> my oncologist tells me i am doing well even though i don't always feel t i'it. i've had kidney stones and ruptured discs, but what i'm not used to are the surges that come on suddenly of deep, deep sadness, and it brings tears to my eyes. >> reporter: even sharing some of his lowest moments. >> chemo affects people in different ways. >> it does. >> and people have to understand that. and there's nothing wrong with saying, hey, i'm really depressed today, and i have no idea why. >> mm-hm. mm-hm. been there, done that. >> reporter: for trebek, fighting the disease means trying to stay positive while undergoing treatment. >> i go in, sit down and joke with the nurses, and i'm there

for an hour and a half while they inject all of this stuff in me, i go home and have a good day, and the next day for no reason i can fathom, it turns south on me, but that's okay. you have to deal with it, what am i going to do? >> reporter: pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest kinds of cancer with a five-year survival rate of 5%. >> pancreatic cancer is a particularly bad actor, basically because of the location of the pancreas in the body. it's kind of hidden and concealed from a spot where it can be felt as the cancer grows, and typically, it doesn't produce symptoms until it's very advanced. >> reporter: it took the lives of steve jobs, singer and civil rights activist aretha franklin. ♪ >> reporter: little house on the prairie star michael landon, and actor patrick swayze who went from "dirty dancing" heartthrob

to being ravaged by the disease. >> how much weight did you lose? >> i dropped about 20 pounds in the blink of an eye. then when you see it in the mirror, all of a sudden you pull your eyes down and the bottom of your eyes go yellow and jaundice sets in, and you know something is wrong. >> reporter: he spoke openly about his battle with barbara walters in 2009. >> are you scared? >> i don't know. i will be so either truthful or stupid as to say no. but then i immediately when i say that, i have to say yes, i am. i don't know what's on the other side. i love you, lady. >> i know you do. >> reporter: swayze died less than nine months later, but alex trebek hopes to beat the odds, joining survivors like ruth bader ginsburg treated in 2009. >> i've had so many contacts from people who have survived cancer for ten years, 12 years,

14 years. i am now a 30-day cancer survivor. i'm going to catch up to those people. >> reporter: he has received an outpouring of support. >> pancreatic cancer doesn't discriminate. today it's alex trebek. but tomorrow it could be someone that you love. >> reporter: in jacksonville, florida, judy zknows. >> stage four is a death sentence. >> reporter: the 69-year-old grandmother undergoing treatment for stage four cancer recently wrote a letter to the trivia show host, a man she calls a friend at her home every weekday. >> i know he's fearful, deep down inside, he's terrified. i know that. >> reporter: she says she hoped to encourage him to dig deep into his faith. >> i believe the only reason i have been able to beat the statistics of 9% who live five years from diagnosis is my faith in god and my positive attitude.

>> reporter: while the cancer has now spread to her lungs, judy remains hopeful. doctors say one of her biggest tumors is almost gone. >> it's a miracle, it's just a miracle. >> reporter: elysse just might be another medical miracle. >> i definitely don't take things for granted. >> reporter: in 2012 she was diagnosed with statement foge f pancreatic cancer while raising two young boys. >> it's devastating to think i might lose my life to this. when i told people i have pancreatic cancer, the first thing they tell you is i'm so sorry. they already put you in the grave. >> reporter: her treatment was aggressive. >> i ended up doing 12 rounds of a pretty intense chemotherapy. >> reporter: now six and a half years in remission, the 50 year old working mom is sending vibes of hope. >> dear alex trebek. >> reporter: writing an open letter that went viral. >> i dntsd choose to get cancer, and i didn't choose to go

through this, but i do get to choose my attitude, and i choose to be happy, so alex trebek, go kick cancer's butt. >> many people who are living with cancer say it was only when they were diagnosed that they really appreciated the preciousness of life. >> reporter: trebek is continuing to lead as normal a life as possible, and right now that means presiding over one of the most memorable seasons of the show ever. >> james? >> pawhat is paul revere? >> reporter: the run is reminding many people of the all-time champ, ken jennings. >> i used to be mr. jeopardy but no longer. >> reporter: he holds the longest winning streak from back in 2004. >> what's an elephant seal? >> you got it. >> it's really an honor to be compared to ken at all. but it's interesting. we have different approaches to the game. >> reporter: he has won more

than $1.5 million so far. >> how was it for you as a host? >> it's exciting. it's fun. i watch it almost every night like most of america. he has forced me to change a view that i have held for many years, and that is that the ken jennings record would never be broken. >> ooh. you love this. >> oh, it's exciting. i mean, our ratings are great, thanks to him. but everywhere i go, people are talking about him. >> reporter: trebek is planning to be back at the podium in september, when the 36th season of jeopardy kicks off. >> i have managed to receive so much love from so many people, and quite often you don't get that during your lifetime. after you're passed, after you're dead, people say oh, he was such a good guy. we really liked him. but i'm getting that all before that event. >> mm-hm. >> so it makes me feel really, really good. >> we certainly wish him a

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you protect them at home. we help protect them online. this is beyond wifi. this is xfi. simple. easy. awesome. xfinity. the future of awesome. redefine the standard of beauty. here's zachary kiesch. >> reporter: it seems like the . on the edge of super model stardom, the 26-year-old has

established herself as a disruptive force by being unapologetically different. she's one of the faces of rihanna's ground-breaking fenty makeup line and rocked the carpet for tom ford and others. she earned her wings as one of victoria secret's angels, putting her in a caliber with heidi klum. >> victoria's secret is the perfect platform. >> reporter: but beyond her beauty, she is a woman on a mission, to level the playing field for models of color. >> when it came to speaking up about my experiences, i knew i had to do something. there are girls even darker than myself in this industry, and they don't really have a voice. >> reporter: using her voice to influence an industry where certain standards were the standard of beauty. >> you were told with natural hair, straighten your hair,

girls with loose curls were made to chemically straighten their hair. >> reporter: do you ever feel like you're being hired as the black girl? is that a constant thing? >> definitely, the token. >> reporter: token. >> you can see a campaign and there will be an array of different women, but it will still be a majority white women. i don't like when i go and sit and i'm the only black person full stop. >> they believe in hiring a dark woman in general that they are marking off that box of diversity. >> reporter: she grew up in london, the daughter of jamaican parents. she was 14 years old when a talent scout stopped her while shopping near her home. >> i had blue mascara, really cool. and this guy came up to me, have you ever thought of doing modeling? and i was like, hmm, stranger danger. no thanks.

then somebody from the same agency came up to me, and i was like, okay, maybe i should give it a charges cance. called them. fake gucci belt in tow. i still managed to get signed. i was like, wow. >> reporter: new on the scene and traveling the world as a teenager, she was in for a few unpleasant surprises. >> all i knew was america's next super model. i was going to be having pillow fights with my roommates, no. there were roaches. >> reporter: different story. >> yeah, it was a different story. i thought it was going to be all glitz and glamour and all this, but it was the complete opposite. >> reporter: early on, she had to navigate working in a predominantly white industry. >> very normal to be told by agents or bookers, don't go into a casting after a black model, because they might get you

confused. this is the language i kind of grew up learning when i first entered the fashion industry. >> reporter: she says stylists oftentimes aren't trained to work with black models. >> i had my incident back stage where a makeup artist said that she could do my makeup. she had no foundation shades in my color. she was trying to do some remixing like a white shade with like a brown eye shadow, and i just turned to her and i was like, do you actually have foundation in my skin tone? she said no. inside i felt oh, my gosh, i can't believe this is happening again. >> today i'm bringing you the black model's survival kit. >> reporter: despite the risk, she is using social media to shine a light on what it's really like behind the scenes for models of color. >> this is a lifesaver. it has every single tone that you kind of need. bring your own hair oil. if you can get clicked in, please bring them with you.

>> i felt if i spoke up, especially being a black model i would get labeled with a stereotype of being a tevdiva o not knowing your place. >> she's taken her position and privilege and allowing that beauty to translate into talking about real world issues. >> i've actually sacrificed so much to be here. >> reporter: naomi campbell, iman, tyra banks all broke barriers. ebony davis giving this talk. >> inclusion doesn't mean one token blacki n' wt to be hired can fill an hr box. >> reporter: in 2017, when rihanna developed fenty beauty, she called. >> rihanna didn't just shake the table, she flipped it over, destroyed it and threw it out the window. so i think fenty beauty has

completely changed everything. >> reporter: fen city nty is nof the hottest beauty brands. their 50 shades of foundation often selling out. it's a big deal. >> it's a huge moment, not just because rihanna releasing makeup but the message she's trying to send to other beauty brands. you don't have to have the european standard of beauty to be the face of a makeup brand. >> reporter: are we seeing something happen in the business right now? >> yeah. >> reporter: black girls. >> a little spice. >> reporter: can't get enough of it. >> i think we're all making steps, but i still feel like the general consensus is that light skin is seen as more expensive and more luxury and darker skin is seen as urban and cool. it's that urban and cool is in fashion now. >> reporter: and fashion is not her only gig. she's launched her own blog called lapp.

>> i want to see fashion as a way to speaking to people and talking about important issues, such as body diversity. these are all from the new collection which we are shooting today before i fly back to london. >> reporter: and a clothing line that she designs, markets and even steps in to model. >> it's a brand with a real message and ethos, aimed at celebrating women and women who might have something to say that goes against the status quo. >> reporter: her provocative sweat shirt was worn by rihanna at the women's march. >> it literally sold out withinwithi within 24 hours. >> reporter: she has become a bridge for others who need a voice. what do you plan to do for the next generation of models in general but young black women in particular. >> that they are of value. i want them to see me as someone who is unapologetically themselves and successful.

that's what i have been put here to do. >> reporter: zachary kiesch in new york. >> our thanks to zachary. coming up, the next generation of high school trail blazers, showing their colors in pursuit of a higher education. ♪ ♪ sing, sing ♪ severe plaque ps. i'm ready. with tremfya®, you can get clearer. and stay clearer. in fact, most patients who saw 90% clearer skin at 28 weeks stayed clearer through 48 weeks. tremfya® works better than humira® at providing clearer skin, and more patients were symptom free with tremfya®. tremfya® may lower your ability to fight infections and may increase your risk of infections. before treatment, your doctor should check you for infections and tuberculosis. tell your doctor if you have an infection or have symptoms such as: fever, sweats, chills, muscle aches or cough. before starting tremfya® tell your doctor if you plan to or have recently received a vaccine. ask your doctor about tremfya®. tremfya®. because you deserve to stay clearer. janssen wants to help you explore cost support options.

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and finally tonight, the stars coming together to celebrate the students reaching higher in their academics. you're looking at the future, a sea of high school students, some first generation, some from low-income households all proudly showing off their commitment to pursuing a higher education and wearing their chosen college colors. a celebration that included conan o'brien and michelle obama. >> we want you all to understand how many people have your back. it's not the failure. it's the ability to bounce back from that failure. >> i came from a family of five. and i'm the youngest. i'll be the first to go to university straight out of high school. >> thousands of young students sharing one goal.

good for them. education has the power to change not just the individual but entire families. it was a late writer, napoleon hill who said great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice. thanks for the company, america, goodnight.