JEOPARDY! champion Jason Singer has left fans baffled after he was seen sneaking in a personal plea to producers on today’s final clue.
The returning victor sent out the secret message just moments before he won his second game – breaking the 14-game long “curse” of having a new winner every single episode.
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The real estate agent from Portland, Maine was looking to be the first person in over two weeks to extend their winning streak past a single game.
In the case he wouldn’t secure a second win and return to the Alex Trebek stage, Jason used his Final Jeopardy! opportunity to send out a personal plea about his wife.
After accumulating winnings of $22,401 from Tuesday’s game, Jason was challenged yet again by two trivia buffs.
He went up against Jeff Foels, a stay-at-home dad from Minneapolis, Minnesota and Stephanie Yang, a children’s book designer from Queens, New York.
While Jason had a dominating performance on yesterday’s game, he appeared to struggle earlier on today – giving an open window for Jeff to snag the lead.
By the time the trio of contestants entered the Double Jeopardy! round, Jeff was in the lead with $6,000.
Stephanie and Jason were tied for second with $4,800 each.
Jason suffered some big blows in one of the categories during the second round – leaving him vulnerable to slide into third place.
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However, he quickly made up for lost time and began adding to his total – eventually surpassing Jeff.
Jeff found the second Daily Double, accurately guessing the correct response to add $4,000 to his score however, he lost that exact amount on the very next question when he incorrectly guessed the third DD.
The battle between Jeff and Jason only intensified when they were tied heading into Final Jeopardy! with $13,200 each – while Stephanie remained in third with $4,800.
Host Ken Jennings, 51, then read off the Final Jeopardy! clue under the category “Men of Medicine.”
“He told of a patient who ‘took hold of his wife’s head, tried to lift it off, to put it on,’” the host read.
Stephanie was wrong but bet $0, ending her game with $4,800.
Jeff was correct, but only wagered enough to give him the end total of $16,799.
Jason took more of a gamble and bet his entire $13,200 – which paid off as he was correct and doubled his score to win with $26,400.
“Who is Sacchs?” Jason wrote, misspelling British neurologist Oliver Sacks, although the answer was still accepted.
Underneath his answer, Jason pulled off the rare move of writing a plea to Jeopardy! producers begging them to “#BringBackSusan.”
Jeopardy! Universe
Jeopardy! first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, many spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here they all are:
Jeopardy! – (syndicated) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7 pm ET.
Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament.
Second Chance Tournament – 2022 to present features hand-selected non-winners from the season prior, where the prize is entry into Champions Wildcard.
Champions Wildcard – 2023 to present, features all one, two and three-day champions from the season prior worth entry into the Tournament of Champions.
Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (syndication) – 2023 to present, features past greats invited by producers to vie for a slot in Masters.
Jeopardy! Masters (primetime) – 2023 to present, features the six highest-ranked Jeopardy! champions competing against each other.
Celebrity Jeopardy! (primetime) – 1992 to present, has celebrities compete against each other to raise money for charity.
Pop Culture Jeopardy (streaming) – 2024 to present, will feature teams of three tasked with pop culture trivia on Amazon Prime, hosted by Colin Jost, airdate TBD
Jeopardy! has done away with specialized tournaments like its College Tournaments, Kids Week, and Professor’s Tournament to gear towards a more sports-like model, with Masters being the top of the Jeopardy pyramid.
Other versions of Jeopardy! have fizzled out throughout the years as well, like Sports Jeopardy!.
Many viewers were confused by the hashtag Jason wrote down – but the contestant was seemingly referring to his wife, Susan McMillan, who won a single game of Jeopardy! back in 2021.
HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE
The couple has made Jeopardy! history, becoming the first already-married couple to each win a game on the show.
Jason has been vocal about wanting his wife back on the show for the Invitational Tournament or, even better, a special couples spinoff.
As for what advice Susan, who brought home $35,600 when she won four years ago, gave her husband, she told GMA: “I told him he really needs to be on point with the buzzer timing.
“Everyone there knows pretty much all the information.”
The couple admitted in the GMA interview that when they first began dating, they shared a deep bond over their love of Jeopardy! and even 20 years later, they still play it during their lunch breaks.
After elating Ken by becoming the first multi-day champ in weeks, Jason will return to Thursday’s episode in hopes of extending his winnings even further.
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