TORONTO –
Mattea Roach, the second Canadian you consider when somebody mentions “Jeopardy!” says her time with the franchise could not finish with this season’s match of champions.
The fifth-winningest contestant within the quiz present’s historical past is again on tv for the pre-taped tourney this week, and she or he’d leap on the alternative to do it once more.
“I’ll proceed going again for so long as they’re prepared to have me as a result of it’s so a lot enjoyable,” she mentioned in a cellphone interview earlier than her semifinal recreation on Friday.
“Playing ‘Jeopardy!’ is a few of the most enjoyable that I’ve had — undoubtedly in my grownup life, in all probability in my entire life.”
If she wins Friday’s match, she’ll go on to the finals, a best-of-seven sequence that begins on Monday.
Earlier this week, Roach received a particular exhibition recreation in opposition to her fellow super-champions Amy Schneider and Matt Amodio, who’ve the second and fourth longest streaks, respectively. There was no cash on the desk, however Roach mentioned that did not impede her enjoyment.
Roach mentioned nothing’s set in stone, however there have been murmurs within the halls of quiz present energy about the potential of extra particular tournaments that would see the return of previous super-champions.
The now-24-year-old Haligonian-turned-Torontonian got here to trivia prominence earlier this 12 months when she received 23 consecutive video games — and a complete of US$560,983.
At the time, she was a legislation faculty tutor, however issues have modified up to now seven months.
In addition to the cool half-mil she received, Roach has parlayed her “Jeopardy!” fame right into a gig internet hosting “The Backbench,” a politics podcast on the Canadaland community.
When she returned to the Alex Trebek Stage (named after the highest Canadian related to “Jeopardy!”) to movie the match, her strategy modified, too.
“I knew the opposite gamers who have been going to be there, whereas throughout your regular-season run, you do not know what you are going to be dealing with earlier than you go down,” she mentioned.
“With a match like this, everybody’s sort of a identified amount.”
She knew that a few of the folks she might face performed a extra aggressive recreation than her model of beginning with the lowest-value clues and dealing her manner down the board.
They have a tendency to start out by selecting high-value clues in an effort to construct up cash earlier than looking for the Daily Double.
“I knew that if I used to be going to be in opposition to a participant like that, I might in all probability not have the ability to get away with enjoying the extra conventional model, or it might be an uphill battle for me,” she mentioned.
“So the factor that I attempted to work on was working myself as much as making these larger wagers and getting snug with enjoying the board extra aggressively.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Nov. 11, 2022.