JEOPARDY! fans have been left stunned after 23-time champ Mattea Roach’s historic run ended tonight.
For the 23-year-old champ from up north, it all went south in a $1 upset that fans called “insane.”
Canadian tutor Mattea – who fans have watched win a wild 23 straight games – the fifth-longest streak on Jeopardy! ever with $560,983 in total earnings – was finally outmatched on Friday.
She lost to Danielle Mauer, a Georgia marketing manager in a Final Jeopardy that fans couldn’t manage to believe.
Ken Jennings – hosting this week and who many viewers want to score the respected gig for good – watched it all conclude in an “insane” final round.
It all came down to $1 in a shocking closer that left the contestants and hundreds of viewers speechless.
Read more on Mattea Roach
Mattea, who was in the lead with $19,200 heading into Final Jeopardy!, wagered $3,601 and did not respond correctly, while Danielle, who had $11,400 going into the round, wagered $4,200 and did provide the correct response.
Mattea’s wager set her just $1 under, and she lost the game by exactly that much.
The Final Jeopardy – category “USA” – was about the international airport in Danielle’s hometown of Georgia, the response being “Hartsfield Jackson”.
Ken even joked on-air that the question must have been “not so hard” for her as he anticipated how fans would feel even spoke on the highly consequential last clue.
“The questions are written months in advance before we know the contestants,” he professed to viewers.
Danielle stood there stunned after she was crowned as the new winner, and fans buzzed in online feeling the same, if not fuming over the upset.
‘THAT WAS BS’
“Mattea Roach lost by ONE DOLLAR on #Jeopardy tonight because they gave the NEW CHAMPION, a woman from Georgia, a final clue about Georgia,” one fan fumed.
“According to that POS, ken Jennings, clues are written months in advance. FU**NG BULLS**T!”
Another noted on the unbalanced statistics: “Mattea 18 correct 3 incorrect, Danielle 6 correct 1 incorrect.”
A third wrote mocking Ken’s speech: “‘ReMeMbER, OuR qUeStIoNs ArE wRiTtEn MoNtHs iN AdVaNCE.’ Haha okay Ken.”
While many more simply appreciated Mattea’s historic streak, one writing: “Damn!! What a great run by @mattearoach on #jeopardy. Loved watching her. Can’t wait to watch you on the TOC.”
However, even more felt it was a hurtful way to go.
“Mattea Roach got screwwwwwwwwed over on the Final Jeopardy! Ken’s hamfisted explanation/rationale of the timing of the clues notwithstanding.”
“Sure looked like a Canadian super champ losing on a ‘USA’ clue gift-wrapped for a native Georgian was…curious.”
That being said, a shocking Final Jeopardy earlier this week was about Mattea’s hometown with the correct response being O Canada, so the flag of advantage has waved both waves.
The youngest “super-champ” in history, Mattea hand-tossed her way to stardom this past month, and The Celeb Report has covered her entire run.
MATTEA’S GREATEST HITS
Mattea won her first game on April 5th and exclaimed her “student loans are paid off!” setting the tone for her unexpected and unconventional yet deeply watchable streak.
Since then, she’s won enough to pay off more than that – $560K total.
Some of her games have been “runaways”, but others have made for the “best episodes of the show in decades.”
Last night, she scored a cinematic comeback with a Final Jeopardy about Citizen Kane, and earlier, she won a feverishly close one by (the same amount) just $1.
Critics may have knocked her “quirky” stage presence seeing her openly voice her wager strategy, but she’s buzzed in at a 91 percent accuracy rate, according to “Jeopardy!” daily scores.
Her other memorable moments included saying “I should have wagered more” after a Daily Double she wasn’t feeling.
And who could forget when Mattea near the end of her run shared a Q&A story she’d been holding close to the blazer:
She once sang backup in a music video with the legendary musician of “Rick Roll” fame Rick Astley.
“Are you Rick Rolling North America right now?” Ken asked in response.
Clearly a fan of music (often sweeping such categories) during an earlier Q&A, she also revealed her SEVEN tattoos including two LEG tattoos dedicated to the band The Talking Heads.
“So I have under both of my knees – on one leg I have ‘same as it ever was’ and on the other leg I have ‘how did I get here’ both from [the song] Once In A Lifetime,” she explained.
“I have 7 tattoos! Good for Mattea~~knew I liked her! #Jeopardy,” another fan wrote, relating to her.
Finally, one of her most memorable games saw her answer Final Jeopardy ALONE on the stage with JUST Ken, due to a technicality.
During April 20th game, two first-time contestants entered Final Jeopardy with negative scores, so they didn’t even compete.
In an extremely rare move, the show returned from commercial with two long-running champs – Ken and Mattea, on stage alone, together.
“Has that ever happened before?” another wondered.
2 CHAMPS SCORE A FRIENDSHIP
The famed alum known for his winning streak of 74 games in 2004, the longest ever, seems to be a fan.
Often when the septum-pierced, bespectacled player buzzed in correctly, Ken simply replied, “good.”
And when Mattea shared an off-set celebration from LA’s In-N-Out Burger on Twitter, Ken replied on Twitter and wrote:
“If this is the In-n-Out on Venice, I’ve been going here after @Jeopardy off and on for 18 years. Solid choice.”
Meanwhile, her family in Halifax, Nova Scotia has hosted watch parties nightly which include custom candies with Mattea’s FACE since it all began and she is now arguably a household name for anyone with cable.
It’s not the last we’ll see of Mattea; she’ll be joining other “super champs” this wild season Matt Amodio, Jonathan Fisher, and then 40-time champion Amy Schneider who recently visited the White House – for the Tournament Of Champions in November.
Much like Ken and James Holtzauer – many Jeopardy! big wigs have big careers after their runs so since Mattea is only 23 the world is her Canadian oyster.
Mayim Bialik and Ken started filling in as temporary hosts after Alex Trebek’s tragic death in 2020 and an ensemble cast of guest hosts in Season 37.
Ken began with an average of 9.2 million views, surpassing Wheel of Fortune and Mayim, who subbed in soon after and averaged her viewers at a lower 5.7million.
Many prefer Ken to take over full-time, as did Mattea quite candidly in a recent Vulture interview.
Read More On The Celeb Report
“I would say Ken because of his history with the show. As a contestant, there’s something really special about being onstage with the greatest player of all time. … Mayim is fantastic, but she doesn’t have that same experience.”
After 23 wins and 24 regular games, which The Celeb Report has covered from the beginning, it’s bittersweet to “hand-wave” goodbye (for now) to Mattea.
