“If I lose I had fun. Thanks all.”
That’s what Canadian Jeopardy! contestant Mattea Roach wrote at the bottom of her Final Jeopardy! response on Monday’s episode.
She didn’t lose.
Instead, Roach’s winning streak has now reached five games — bringing her closer to an invite to a future Tournament of Champions.
Roach, a 23-year-old originally from Halifax, won $12,600 USD on Monday’s episode. Her total winnings over five days is now $117,200 USD, or just over $148,000 CAD.
She went into the Final Jeopardy! round in second place, but was the only contestant who answered the clue about Oxford’s 2021 word of the year correctly.
The answer, by the way, was “vax.”
Roach graduated from Sacred Heart School in Halifax in 2015, and her family still lives in Halifax and Cape Breton. She now works as a tutor, based in Toronto.
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During the interview portion of Monday’s episode, Roach spoke about her high school debate coach from Sacred Heart, Brian Casey, who she credited for helping her reach her Jeopardy! milestone.
“And before I did any kind of big round of final anything, he would come up to me and my partner and be like, ‘Okay girls, it’s showtime.’ So that’s what I was thinking last week every time before I came up to play,” Roach said. “So I wanted to thank him.”
In an interview with Global’s The Morning Show last week, she said she applied for the show online during the pandemic, because she was “bored” and wanted to give it a go.
“Like, the worst thing that happens is I don’t hear back, and the best thing that happens is maybe I got on the show, so there’s literally no downside to taking the test. Then I got the best possible outcome,” she said.
That best possible outcome — so far — is the ability to pay off her student loans and a chance to appear in a future Tournament of Champions game.
According to the Jeopardy! website, all four-time and over winning players are eligible to compete in the Tournament of Champions, but are not guaranteed to be invited.
Roach will be back on Tuesday’s episode to defend her title of returning champion.
The games were recorded earlier this year in Los Angeles.
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