‘Jeopardy!’: How One Player Almost Lost Out on Their Second Chance

Meaghan Darwish September 25, 2023, 8:00 pm

Elaine, Jiliana, and Colin play in 'Jeopardy!'s Second Chance Tournament — Jeopardy!, Inc.

The third week of Jeopardy!‘s ongoing Second Chance Tournament has officially kicked off, but one player almost didn’t make it according to their mid-round anecdote shared with host Ken Jennings.

The game featured returning players Colin Beazley, Jiliana Cotter, and Elaine Filadelfo who previously competed a few years back but didn’t quite make the cut against other contestants. Now, vying for victory themselves, they’re trying their hardest to stick around a bit longer, but for Colin, it almost didn’t happen.

(Credit: Courtesy of Jeopardy!, Inc.)

Partway through the Jeopardy! round, Jennings notes that Colin had quite an interesting backstory behind his return to the Alex Trebek stage. Prompting Colin, Jennings asked how he found out he was going to come back to the competition, noting that the show started making calls back in July.

“It was so unexpected,” Colin admitted. “So I got about three missed calls from an LA number. And like a classic millennial, I didn’t pick it up cause I didn’t recognize it. And only once I got a text from somebody to call them back, I finally made the call and got the information and got the news.”

The story then prompted Jennings to say that perhaps all competitors should get texts from here on out as most people don’t pick up the phone anymore. Regardless of crossed phone lines, Colin, a private investment professional from West Palm Beach, Florida made it back to play alongside senior data analyst Jiliana from Dade City, Florida, and consumer insights researcher Elaine Filadelfo from Washington, D.C..

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Only time will tell how Colin will fare against Jiliana and Elaine, both of whom ended the evening with higher scores than him. He still has a shot at coming out on top if he wins big in the next game. As it stands now, Jiliana is in the lead with $18,800, Elaine is in second place with $8,400, and Colin came in with $3,900.

All three competitors answered the Final Jeopardy! round correctly hinting at the neck-and-neck competition that could lie ahead. Don’t miss it for yourself, tune into Jeopardy!‘s latest Second Chance competitors play for a chance to win big as the week goes on.

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