Jeopardy! newcomer 'blindsided' by his own win after come-from-behind victory- but reveals 'stressfu

March 05, 2024

A JEOPARDY! contestant could not believe his own come-from-behind victory on Thursday's "rollercoaster" of an episode, quite literally.

Jared Watson, who spent most of the game in a far third place, wrote online: "At no point did I think I was actually going to win."

Going in, Ilhana Redzovic, an investment associate from Chicago, Illinois, was the one to beat with a two-day total of $30,800.

She faced Jared, a quality control specialist from Greenville, Texas, and Eva Thomas, an attorney from Brooklyn, New York.

Ilhana and the undoubtedly impressive Eva got off to strong starts in the Jeopardy! round while Jared went through the wringer.

He drew a blank on the first Daily Double and admitted: “I do not know,” when the clue was displayed.

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Jared entered Final Jeopardy in second place and it was still anyone’s game.

'OH MAN IS RIGHT!'

He had $11,600, while Eva had $16,200 and Ilhana had $4,600.

Final Jeopardy! Under "Country Names" read: "The first current country to include its particular religion in its full name, it also has that religion in the name of its capital."

Ilhana was correct with "Pakistan" and doubled up, while Jared was also correct and added $2,400.

When it was time to see what rival Eva wrote and wagered, she was incorrect her nearly $6000 bet left her in second place.

Suddenly the energy in the room shifted as Mayim Bialik, 47, exclaimed: “Jared, you’re our new Jeopardy! champion!”.

Jared buckled over his podium looking absolutely thrilled and fans went wild over the come-from-behind win for him.

“Oh man!” he said, Mayim replied: “Oh man is right!”

Jared simply could not believe it and he remained stunned as his winning 1-day total of $14,000 was displayed.

As the credits rolled Jared said to the host in a made-for-TV moment: "I can't words right now."

'HELL OF A COMEBACK!'

Fans were baffled by the whirlwind game, one person writing on a Reddit internet forum: “What a rollercoaster!"

“Congrats Jared on the win hell of a comeback from the jeopardy round," wrote another.

"Wow Jared. Didn't see that coming," tweeted s third.

"New #Jeopardy champion wins tonight despite consistently giving wrong answers until last segment. Life is funny," ribbed a fourth.

"'I can't words right now,' was one of the most iconic and genuine lines I've ever heard," wrote a fifth.

"Big congrats to Jared, coming from 0/2 Daily Doubles and 2nd place to win. It looked like he lacked a bit of buzzer rhythm at the start. You could tell from his 3rd DD that he was lowkey scarred by the first two."

'AT NO POINT DID I THINK I'D WIN'

Jared wrote to Reddit: "What a barnburner of a game. Even knowing how it eventually would end up, it was SO stressful to re-watch.

"At no point in the game did I think I was actually going to win."

"Congrats to Eva for playing an unbelievable game, and I seriously hope she merits strong Second Chance Tournament consideration!"

'I AGONIZED OVER THAT ONE' - RIVAL ADMITS

Eva responded in the thread: "Going into Final Jeopardy when I saw the category, I knew I already lost because geography is one of my weaker areas, so I wagered to ensure second if I got the question wrong, and in the event I got the question right, I still had something resembling a cover bet.

I could not think of the answer for the life of me, so I threw out a random guess.

I think the expression on my face when Jared's wager was revealed was me realizing if I had just bet $0, I would have won, but I had expected him to go way bigger and cover me.

Definitely agonized over that one back in my hotel room and for a few nights after, but I looked it up on the wager calculator and I apparently did the logical/correct thing, so that brought me some comfort.

I'll just say if they ask me to come back for Second Chance Tournament I wouldn't say no, if only because I had so much fun playing.”

MAYIM'S HOSTING SLATE

Mayim and former champ Ken Jennings, 48, are splitting hosting duties after the tragic passing of Alex Trebek at age 80 in 2020.

Ken's background as a super-champ shined during the thrilling Jeopardy! Masters special which ended last week and was won by his longtime foe James Holzhauer.

The actress is now finishing out the regular season, hosting episodes airing until the summer.

Ken won't be seen until the 2023 Tournament of Champions which will kick off Season 40 in September - barring the last week of Season 39 which he is subbing back in to host as Mayim is supporting the WGA writers' strike.

Not all fans are sold on the two-host model or Mayim's hosting chops upon her recent return to the syndicated series.

In yesterday's game, the actress was called out for accepting a response that fans heard as blatantly incorrect.

Travis had sounded like he guessed "internet" for a clue looking for "intranet" and the host allowed it: "That's correct: Intranet."

Mayim's pause when deeming contestants correct or not has become an inflection point.

A contestant recently added additional information to two of his responses -one a $6,000 Daily Double - since Mayim took too long to rule on them.

"Producers need to address this as it is not just annoying, it could affect the outcome of a game."