A JEOPARDY! newcomer has revealed their dad was part of show history after previously competing in an episode that, at the time, set record for the highest winnings in a single game.
Andrew Hayes returned to the Jeopardy! stage, looking to increase his one-day winnings of $25,200 after unseating reigning champion, Mike Dawson.
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The law student from Tupelo, Mississippi went up against Kat Donahoe, a chemist from Modesto, California and Dave Widmayer, a trivia host and chemist from Portland, Oregon.
Due to his occupation, it may not be a huge surprise to viewers that the trivia buff has a deep connection to the Jeopardy! Legacy.
During the interview segment of the game, Dave told host Ken Jennings that his dad, Hank Widmayer, previously competed on Jeopardy! all the way back in 1992.
Hank was part of a historic game from season 8 which saw trivia icon, Jerome Vered, setting the record for the highest single-game winnings.
Jerome and Hank, along with contestant Devon Ericson, played in a game which aired in May 1992.
Though Hank did not win, he was part of history as Jerome went on to score another victory with $34,000 – the most anyone had made from a single game at the time.
In addition to his dad’s impressive resume, Dave also revealed his mom competed on a game back in 2001.
Fans were impressed by the rare connection, with one begging the question: “How many familial combinations are there with both parents & a child competing on Jeopardy!?
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“What I also find impressive is that Dave’s dad competed in Season 8, in the same game where Jerome Vered set a new 1-day record at the time.”
Dave saw the comment and responded, writing: “Thanks for noticing that! I’m really proud of how well my Dad did for running into a buzz saw like Jerome.”
Jerome went on to become one of the great champions in the Jeopardy! franchise.
Over the course of 34 years, the Los Angeles-based writer secured a massive fortune of nearly $500,000.
He made his debut in 1991 and banked $96,801 over a five-day winning streak.
The following year, he competed on the Tournament of Champions, winning $7,500 and returned in 2005 to compete on the Ultimate Tournament of Champions.
During that tournament, Jerome took home a stagger $389,801 prize pot.
He last competed on Jeopardy! during 2014’s Battle of the Decades – adding another $5,000 to his winnings.
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Dave continued his mom and dad’s legacy by competing on Thursday’s episode of Jeopardy!
He started off strong after finding the first Daily Double – which added an additional $1,000 to his score.
By the Double Jeopardy! Round, he grew his lead to $4,800 while Andrew was in second with $2,400 and Kat remained in third with $2,200.
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!.
Andrew snagged the lead from Dave after adding $3,000 to his score when correctly guessing the second Daily Double.
However, Dave took the lead right back when he found the third Daily Double – making a risky wager and improving his score by $4,200.
It was Dave’s game to lose as he was in the lead going into Final Jeopardy! with $20,200.
Andrew was in a distant second with $13,000 while Kat remained in third with $5,400.
The scores made Final Jeopardy! the deciding factor of the game – and the results of it drastically changed the outcome.
Only Andrew was correct on Final Jeopardy! – securing his second win with $20,201.
Dave dropped to $14,399 after getting the clue wrong, while Kat finished the game with just $2.
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