‘Jeopardy!’: Matt Amodio Tops $500,000 in Winnings as Mayim Bialik Shares Video With Fans

Matt Amodio and Mayim Bialik
CBS/Twitter

Current Jeopardy! champion Matt Amodio is close to breaking another record after reaching the $500,000 mark in the Wednesday, August 11 episode.

The Ph.D. student from New Haven, Connecticut, had already become the fourth-highest regular season earner in the show’s history, surpassing past champions Julie Collins ($428,100) and David Madden ($430,400). Now he is within touching distance of third place, currently held by Jason Zuffranieri, who achieved total earnings of $532,496.

“Wow, I just can’t believe it! I still haven’t gotten over the happiness of winning game #1 yet… to be a Jeopardy winner of any amount is such an honor and a joy!” Amodio wrote on Twitter while also thanking viewers for joining him on this “unbelievable ride.”

Jeopardy! fans returned the love, complimenting Amodio on his impressive performance. “It’s been a real pleasure watching you on Jeopardy. You are darn smart!” wrote one viewer. “Thank you for making every night an inspiration and for your great work that you do. You are always welcome and we will be watching you on Jeopardy every step of the way,” tweeted another.

Meanwhile, The Big Bang Theory star Mayim Bialik shared a video responding to the news that she will be one of the two new Jeopardy! hosts. It was confirmed on Wednesday that Bialik will host the show in a limited capacity taking on primetime specials and spin-offs, while exec producer Mike Richards will helm the daily syndicated format.

“Thank you, everybody; it’s been a very exciting and overwhelming day but in a very good way,” said Bialik. “I spoke to Mike Richards, who is my fellow host… and that was really awesome to get to tell him how I thought all along that he was going to be the host.”

The Primetime Emmy nominee also confirmed that her Jeopardy! role will still allow her to work on her Fox sitcom Call Me Kat and her podcast series Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown. Earlier in the day, Bialik tweeted that she was “Really really honored and astounded and excited for this – it’s beyond anything I ever imagined could happen.”

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