JEOPARDY! champion Josh Weikert’s six-day winning streak has come to a crushing end after he suffered a brutal loss against his latest opponent.
Following his final game, for now, the politics professor from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, candidly expressed his thoughts on competing during the “out of body” experience.
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After already accumulating $100,202 from his six-day winning streak, Josh was looking to continue his Jeopardy! run.
On Monday’s game, he went up against Allison Willard, a paralegal from Weddington, North Carolina, and Bryce Wargin, a post-market surveillance coordinator from Kansas City, Missouri.
Bryce was quick to find the first Double Jeopardy! – which doubled his score early on in the nail-biting game that saw leads change constantly.
However, it was Josh who was off to a fast lead – accumulating $7,400 by the Double Jeopardy! round.
Allison has advanced to second place with $4,600 while Bryce stayed in third with $3,800.
In the Double Jeopardy! round, she added another $2,000 to her score of $7,000 when correctly guessing the second DD.
The move put her just behind Josh – who was in the lead at this point in the game with $9,400.
Bryce began to make big moves later in the game and moved from third to second after he found the third Daily Double under the “Birth of a Nation” category.
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After accurately answering the clue, he doubled to $8,400 – just behind Josh at $9,400.
Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Josh was still in first with $15,000 while Bryce had moved up to second with $12,400.
Allison was just behind with $11,800 after holding the lead for a lot of the game.
Host Ken Jennings, 50, then introduced the Final Jeopardy! category as “communication.”
After the players had placed their wagers, he revealed: “Invented by a student in 1824, this system has a total of 64 combinations.”
Only Bryce was correct in answering “what is braille?” – drastically changing the outcome of the game.
Bryce added $3,000 to his score – finishing in first with $15,400.
Josh dropped to $5,199 to end the game in second while Allison finished in third with $3,100.
Though he appeared disappointed by his defeat, Josh was supportive and clapped to congratulate his opponent after his big win.
He then took online to share some thoughts about his six-day winning steak, writing: “Now that my run is over I’d love to share some thoughts:
“Being on Jeopardy! has been better than I could ever have imagined. Spending even five minutes on that stage in rehearsals was a blast, and getting to play seven games was just unreal.
“I don’t think it all even hit me until I was on the plane back to Philadelphia – just one long, 36-hour out-of-body experience. I’m positive that EVERY person I was on stage with could have won several games.
“I had more than a few lucky breaks, and I’d like to think that I did my best to make the most of them, but just TAKE A LOOK AT THE STATS for this past week!!!”
Jeopardy! Set Secrets
Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:
- Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
- After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
- Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
- The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
- Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
- To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
- All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
- There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
- Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
- The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
- Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
- Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
- Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
- Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.
He then issued a warning for prospective players, writing: “My advice is show up with a PLAN and EXPECTATION that you’re going to be playing 5+ games, as arrogant as that might seem!
“Why? Because I simply assumed I’d be out in one, or maybe win just a single game, and I hadn’t given much though to the best ways to play/win multiple games and was winging it most of the time.
“Happy to say I’ve learned a lot of lessons by watching my run and can’t wait to implement them at the TOC!
“Don’t let a bad rehearsal get you down. My rehearsal was GARBAGE, but by the first commercial break I felt like I was finding my footing, and it only got better from there!
“Don’t worry about not having enough knowledge. The hardest questions WEREN’T the ones that were the most esoteric – they were the ones that had several possible correct answers, all of which you’re “kind of familiar with” (see today’s Final Jeopardy clue!).”
Fans were disappointed by Josh’s loss, with one writing: “As someone who has been rooting for Josh since the first game, this episode was hard to watch. But Josh you did all your fans proud, bravo on a great run! You should be proud!!”
“Josh, you quickly became one of my favorite contestants. Great run! I look forward to seeing you in TOC,” another wrote now that Josh scored enough wins to secure his spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions.
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