Trailblazing 'Jeopardy!' champion Mattea Roach reflects on 23-game win streak
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After a trailblazing 23-game “Jeopardy!” win streak, Mattea Roach became the game show's longest-running and highest-winning Canadian champion. The LSAT tutor from Toronto took home a total of $320,081 after losing by $1 in her final game.
Roach, 23, who is a lesbian, captured fans’ attention with her animated personality as she talked through the thought process behind her answers, exuding a casual confidence not traditionally seen on “Jeopardy!”
Having begun taping in January — just after the show aired its last episode with Amy Schneider, who ended with a 40-game win streak after becoming the first transgender player to qualify for the Tournament of Champions — Roach said she was expecting another contestant to rise to the forefront in Schneider’s absence. Little did she know it would be herself.
“I didn’t think I was going to win this many games, and so I didn’t think that either my supporters or my detractors were going to be nearly as large in number,” said Roach, who qualified for the Tournament of Champions after her first five games. “I thought I was going to be kind of one and done.”
Rating: 5