‘Jeopardy!’ Star James Holzhauer Reveals Big Secret About Mattea Roach & Drops Shock News

Martin Holmes
16 Comments
James Holzhauer and Mattea Roach on Jeopardy masters
Jeopardy! Inc

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Jeopardy! Masters finale.]

James Holzhauer might have won the Jeopardy! Masters tournament on Wednesday (May 24) night, but Mattea Roach certainly gave him a run for his money.

The self-confessed game show “supervillain” defeated Roach and Matt Amodio in the finals to be crowned the first-ever Masters champion, bagging a $500,000 grand prize to go with it. But the final scores were close, with Holzhauer clinching the victory with 43,795 over Roach’s 41,685.

Now Holzhauer has revealed a big secret about Roach, and also dropped some surprising news about what he is planning to do next.

“I’ve faced the greatest Jeopardy players ever: @bradrutter, @Jeopardamy, that Mormon guy,” Holzhauer wrote on Twitter after Wednesday’s game. “In 50+ games I had never once felt absolutely frazzled, completely unable to ring in, merely spectating as an opponent takes over the game…until @mattearoach did it this week. Twice.”

Roach almost beat Holzhauer in a semi-final game earlier this week, and heading into yesterday’s Final Jeopardy round, they led the way with 22,800 points over Holzhauer at 9,600 and Amodio at 3,200.

“Mattea’s performance would have been unbelievable in the best of times. Considering everything they went through this month, this was the gutsiest Jeopardy! achievement since Cindy Stowell’s,” Holzhauer continued in his Twitter thread. “An absolute, star-making masterclass in how to play the game.”

Roach’s father sadly passed away during the filming of Masters, putting a temporary pause in production. The Toronto native opened up about their loss on Tuesday’s (May 23) episode, talking about how thankful they were for the support they received from Jeopardy! crew and their fellow opponents.

“I’m lucky the scores were even this close entering Final: had I uncovered Matt’s brutally difficult Daily Double, it would have been 22,800 to zero,” Holzhauer added. “I benefited from more luck in the end. But no one will forget Mattea’s #JeopardyMasters dominance.”

Despite Roach’s impressive performance, it was Holzhauer who walked away with the huge prize pot, and he’s already revealed where part of his winnings is going.

“It means so much to me to bring this donation home to provide food, clothing and hygiene essentials for housing-insecure teens in the Las Vegas Valley. $100,000 will go a long way, but you can help even more by donating at https://project150.org,” he tweeted Wednesday night.

As for what’s next for the game show icon, well, he still has his eyes on playing more Jeopardy!, somehow, someway. And he is set to do something that will surprise many fans.

“What am I thinking after the biggest backdoor cover of my career? Just for me, personally, going forward with the game of Jeopardy, I’ve got a lot to think about,” he wrote. “Maybe I’ll enroll at USC for a year, play College Jeopardy. Never used up my eligibility. Thanks for watching!”

Jeopardy! Masters key art
Ken Jennings

Ken Jennings

⨁Full Cast & Crew

ABC

Game Show

2023–

TVPG

Game show

Where to Stream

Latest Headlines

More Jeopardy! Masters ›
Jeopardy! MastersJames HolzhauerMattea Roach



Conversation16 Comments

Please read the TV Insider Community Guidelines.

Comments are closed on this story.

  1. O

    OliveSnow

    As well as a master player, James Holzhauer is a class act. I hope to see more of him on Jeopardy in the future.

    16 1

    1. C

      CyanPumpkin

      I love James actually all of them but hep his my favorite I get his sense of humor but even in his winning he also praise other contestants. I hope he does great things with that mind of his

      13 1

  2. P

    PurpleWheel

    I am actually very happy james won. The more I saw them through this tournament. The more impressed I was with what a wonderful person he is and his wife. He also has a very pleasing personality I love his humor.

    9 1

  3. O

    OrangeDog

    Why did she bet anything? She would have won!!!

    6 1

    1. O

      OliveBeer

      No, she wouldn't, unless James had bet nothing. It was a two day total.

      2

  4. R

    RedHat

    So Mattea identifies as they/them/their? Disappointing. That's one pronoun preference I can't get behind. Makes this article confusing and hard to read.

    20 15

    1. O

      OrangeBasketball

      What difference does it make. The contestant is a HUMAN BEING!!!!

      2 5

      1. O

        OrangeBasketball

        AWESOME PLAYER, no matter what!!! Just say the name MATTEA!!

        6 1

        1. R

          RedHat

          That would be okay by me. But the article continually referred to her as "they", "them", and "their". Babel.

          5 3

      2. R

        RedHat

        Yes, but the use of plural pronouns contributes to a Babel effect when it comes to language.

        Suddenly now after 400 years of the development of American English, referring to individuals with plural pronouns is quite confusing. This article is evidence of that.

        8 3

        1. C

          CyanScissors

          Pronouns are here to stay, we will continue to evolve long after we are both dead. It can be hard to adjust to life and truth as we learn more about ourselves and others.

          "Their" is not exclusively plural, look it up.

          Making an issue out of someones identity beacuse of how it reads... thats a you problem not a they problem. Either get with the program or Enjoy your cave.

          P.s. if you are an American right wing republican, just know that what may seem like "progress" to you on parents rights and other things, rude awakenings are ahead.

          2 4

          1. R

            RedHat

            Lol. "Their" was exclusively a plural pronoun UNTIL this recent push to accommodate the feelings of maybe 1% of the population by demanding that everyone bend to their condition, which also until recently was considered a disorder, and changing centuries of language conventions.

            The ones making a problematic issue of this nonsense are people like you.

            If they are making a true effort to transition, protection of pronouns are no issue. Who's gonna misgender them if they can't tell? But don't expect me to call a dude with a wig, a dress, and a beard "ma'am".

            You call it evolution. Others call it delusion.

            2

        2. R

          RedElephant

          Thank you! Glad to know I'm not alone. I can't get used to the "they/their/them" either. Is it because "they" don't identify as he or she? What's wrong with IT? I'm sorry, plural is plural!

          4

          1. R

            RedHat

            It's madness.

            2

  5. O

    OrangePumpkin

    Drop the BS James. A great show and I’m sure Alex is watching and impressed with your wit and intelligence from “somewhere” lol

    Enjoy your few hours of fame. You’re a great competitor and a brilliant individual with an exceptional amount of trivia floating around in your brain. All the best from Canada and many of us are pulling for ya. !!!

  6. G

    GreenGoggles

    I'm a Democrat and I think anyone who thinks tearing our country apart and stepping all over its lifestyle, grammar, sexual identities and the like along with gender fluidity are surely insane and should be committed. You all have serious ego problems.