Mattea Roach has said goodbye to the Jeopardy! podium as her winning streak on the show has come to an end.
The 23-year-old Canadian native secured 23 consecutive wins on the show before losing by $1 in Final Jeopardy Friday night.
Although her time on the game show has officially come to a close, Roach has gone down in Jeopardy! history as the fifth-highest earner and fifth in line for the most consecutive wins. The tutor from Toronto ended her streak with a grand total of $560,983 and a shining spot on the show’s leader board.
Roach has also become the most successful Canadian contestant to ever appear on the show and will return to Jeopardy! for its Tournament of Champions.
Roach lost her Jeopardy! winning streak by $1
In last night’s show, Roach had a solid lead heading into Final Jeopardy with a total of $19,200. Stumped by the USA-themed question, Roach answered incorrectly with a wager of $3,601 – which brought her total to just $1 below her winning opponent.
Roach finished her last game with $15,599 and a positive attitude as she handed off the baton to the next winner.
“Mattea Roach it has been a pleasure watching you play the game,” Jeopardy’s host Ken Jennings said at the end of the show.
The reining champion took to her Twitter to share her gratitude for those who have supported her during her run on the show.
She shared the song I Know The End by Phoebe Bridgers with the caption, “Feeling proud and reflective tonight – thank you again so much to all who have supported me during my run. It’s almost exactly four months to the day I got the call to go on Jeopardy, and I had no idea back then how much my life would change as a result.”
She also followed up to congratulate her opponent, Danielle, as she officially handed over the “crown” to her as the newest Jeopardy! champion.
“I’ll share some more detailed thoughts tomorrow but for now I have one thought which is CONGRATULATIONS DANIELLE,” she wrote.
Mattea Roach’s thoughts on ending her winning streak
In an interview with CBS News: The National, Mattea Roach reflected on her time on Jeopardy! and how she has kept the secret of her losing game for some time now. Since the show is filmed in advance and it’s been two and a half months since things ended for her, Roach said that she has had plenty of time to process.
“I don’t recall being that upset about it, I mostly just felt incredibly grateful to have even had the opportunity to play Jeopardy at all,” she said. “I don’t think that anybody can reasonably be upset about entering the record books as the person with the fifth-longest streak and the fifth-highest regular season earnings. I’ve been sitting on this for a while and I feel relieved to not have to keep a secret anymore, how my run ends.”
As for what’s next for the former champion, Roach plans to take a break for Jeopardy and spend her time relaxing – after devoting all of her 2022 to the show thus far. After receiving an acceptance to law school while her episodes were airing, Roach is looking forward to figuring out her future studies and going back to school in the fall.
When it comes to preparing for Jeopardy’s upcoming Tournament of Champions, Roach also plans to “take a breather” for a couple of weeks.
“I don’t know, maybe by late May I’ll be ready to dive back into Jeopardy,” she laughed. “We’ll see.”