Jeopardy! has been in the news a lot lately. Following the passing of its beloved host, Alex Trebek, the show welcomed a series of guest hosts. Eventually, the show named its own executive producer, Mike Richards, as its permanent host.
But Richards didn’t remain in the role for long. He faced some serious heat, and resigned from the position. He was later removed from his executive producer role as well.
Now, actress and neuroscientist Mayim Bialik will share hosting duties with former Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings for the rest of 2021. In the meantime, the show will continue its search for a permanent host.
Mayim Bialik and Ken Jennings will split “Jeopardy!” hosting duties for the remainder of 2021, Sony Pictures Television says. Mike Richards was initially tapped as Alex Trebek’s successor, but left after past misogynistic and disparaging comments surfaced. https://t.co/USud3AME2V
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 16, 2021
In more positive news, one current Jeopardy! star has been on a huge winning streak…and he just made history.
Matt Amodio is a fifth-year computer science Ph.D student at Yale University. And as of Friday (September 24) he has won 28 consecutive rounds of Jeopardy!
Amodio earned $48,800 for his 28th win. In doing so, his total winnings surpassed $1 million (he has earned $1,004.001). The reigning champion is the third contestant in Jeopardy! history to ever earn more than $1 million in regular season games.
Only Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer have accomplished the same feat. Jennings earned a total of $2,462,216 across 74 games, while Holzhauer raked in $2,520,700 during his 32-game winning streak.
There is a fourth Jeopardy! millionaire, but most of his winnings come from tournament games. According to Lancaster Online, Brad Rutter has earned over $4,938,436 from competing on Jeopardy!, making him the record holder for the most money ever won on the show.
Congratulations to Amodio on his incredible achievement! We’ll be watching Jeopardy! to see if he continues his winning streak.