Canadian Mattea Roach coasts to 22nd win on ‘Jeopardy!’


Mattea Roach, a 23-year-old Toronto tutor, crushed the competition and secured her 22nd straight victory on “Jeopardy!” Wednesday evening.

The Canadian has the fifth-longest winning streak in the show’s history, one of the show’s youngest champions to crack the all-time top 10.

The Torontonian soared ahead of her opponents on Tuesday night, racking up a cool $28,400 (US) by the end of the second round. When it came to Final Jeopardy however, the reigning champ played it safe.

Host Ken Jennings provided the clue: A Union soldier’s song said General McClellan, who let a Confederate army escape after this battle, “was too slow to beat ’em.”

Roach, more than $20,000 up on her remaining rival, wagered $0 — and still won with the answer, “What is Antietam?”

“I made perhaps the most responsible wager of all,” Roach laughed after Jennings quipped that she usually made “respectable, responsible” bets.

Key moments

Roach faced off against Kelly Flynn, a high school English teacher from Exeter, NH, and also Jaime Sisson, a banking manager from Madison, Miss.

Roach kept a consistent lead throughout the show, heading into the first commercial break with $3,800, more than double either of her opponents.

After the break, Roach revealed she once sang “Never Gonna Give You Up” with Rick Astley himself in Toronto, while attending an open participation choir program called Choir!Choir!Choir!.

Is this story true? Jennings joked. “Or are you Rick-rolling North America?”

Roach’s lead only deepened, racking up $7,000 in winnings by the end of the first round. Heading into Final Jeopardy, Roach had amassed $28,400.

Her opponents didn’t have nearly as smooth a ride; Flynn was knocked out after Double Jeopardy with -$2,600. Going into Final Jeopardy, Sisson, her closest rival, had $6,600.

Despite Sisson placing all $6,600 on the line on Final Jeopardy and providing the right answer, she still came up short.

“You cannot fool a former Rick Astley back-up singer that easily,” Jennings quipped.

Roach’s winning stats

Her cumulative winnings now total $534,984 (US) as of her 22nd game.

Roach plays again on Thursday, facing off against TJ Lovejoy, a mortgage lender from Chandler, Ariz., and Sarah Snider, a middle school humanities Teacher from Fishers, Ind.

Roach has a 90 per cent accuracy rate, according to “Jeopardy!” daily scores.

She has responded to more than 500 clues, an average of roughly 28 correct responses per game, says “Jeopardy!”

Roach is eligible to qualify for the show’s “Tournament of Champions,” facing off against the most successful players in “Jeopardy!” including 38-game champ Matt Amodio and 40-game winner Amy Schneider.

Personal life and queer representation

Roach lives in Toronto and is a graduate from the University of Toronto. She works as a tutor and was raised in Halifax, NS

The “Jeopardy!” champ says the only reason she may be able to afford a home in Canada’s sky-high housing market is due to her winnings from her on the game show

Some American networks have seemingly latched on to Roach’s sexual orientation, referring to her as the “lesbian tutor” on the popular TV show. People online were quick to jump to Roach’s defense of her, something she says she was grateful for.

Roach says she’s happy to be part of a recent influx of LGBTQ contestants, albeit adding that the US network tweets about her were clumsy. “I think it is relevant to my ‘Jeopardy!’ run, not because it has anything to do with my ability to play the game but because I think it’s part of a larger story regarding queer and trans contestants on this season.”

The list includes Amy Schneider, who had a 40-game winning streak, and said in a series of tweets last year that she was proud to be a queer, transgender woman and wanted pople to know, but that the fact represented just a small portion of her identity. Schneider had one of the longest winning streaks on the show.

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