‘Celebrity Jeopardy!’: Sherri Shepherd Addresses Her Epic Fail on Show
Sherri Shepherd is speaking out after she appeared on ABC‘s Celebrity Jeopardy alongside Christopher Meloni and Katie Nolan on Wednesday, October 11, and had a less-than-favorable outing, finishing the game with a paltry $75.
Addressing what happened, the day after on her syndicated talk show, Shepherd admitted, “There are [game] shows that look easy when you are sitting there, and there are shows that you would never do if you had the opportunity. Jeopardy!, for me, is one of those shows!” She continued, “I will destroy on $100,000 Pyramid. I eked out a win on Family Feud. … I love game shows, but Celebrity Jeopardy! is a show I should not have done at all.”
“With Celebrity Jeopardy!, you gotta know a little bit about a lot of stuff. I know a lot of stuff about a little bit,” she said with jest.
Shepherd admitted she underestimated how tough the celebrity version of Jeopardy! would be in comparison. “When I got on the show, I thought they were going to make it a little bit easier for the celebrities,” she said. “When I saw the categories, I was like, ‘Wait a minute, hold on, what is this?’
She even addressed one of the categories that messed her up during the game.
“I don’t even know what a demonym is!” she laughed. “Apparently, demonym is a word that refers to a resident or native of a certain place, so I definitely wasn’t going to choose that!”
She said thought she’d find reprieve in the “J.Lo” category, figuring it would be all about Jennifer Lopez, “I know everything about J.Lo! I was like, ‘I got this,’ ” the host recalled. “[Host Ken Jennings] asked me to pick, and I said, ‘Jenny from the Block!’
However, to her dismay, she soon discovered the J.Lo category housed other notable names who could also go by the acronym “I was misled!” Shepherd exclaimed. “That was a bait and switch!”
She then noted her Final Jeopardy moment. “They give you a big index card to write your wager down. But I was so far behind, I was like, ‘Y’all can take this marker back!’ ” Shepherd quipped. “When the music was playing… I look like I’m working hard on the questions… But y’all, all I was doing was doodling on that card!”
An image of Shepherd’s doodle appeared on screen, showing love notes she wrote to longtime crushes Trevor Noah and Jason Momoa. “All I had was $900! What I’m goin’ do but doodle Mrs. Trevor Noah [and] Mrs. Jason Momoa?” she said jokingly.
Shepherd confesses that her sole motivation for participating in the show was to raise funds for the Move-In Day Mafia, a non-profit under Project Dreamlight dedicated to assisting university scholars who have transitioned out of foster care, faced homelessness, or endured financial difficulties.
“That is what I had in my mind,” Shepherd said. “Most of the other game shows don’t pay the kind of money that Jeopardy! does for a charity. … It was for the benefit of foster kids, it was never about me. … [So] I’m happy as a clam because the Move-in Mafia Initiative got a ton of money.”
Despite not becoming champion, Shepherd still fondly looks back at the experience. “This is my year of not overthinking everything,” she said on Sherri. “This is my year, I am not beating myself up. When I tell you I’m at so much ease and peace.”
However, she learned something new while on the trivia show, learning to trust her instincts.
“Sometimes I thought I knew the answer, but because I didn’t want to sound dumb, I wouldn’t say anything,” Shepherd said before showing an example from the show. “During the commercial break, Katie Nolan — who won — she kept getting everything right. And I said, ’Katie, everything you’re saying, a lot of it, I got that same answer in my head.’ And she said, ‘Sherri, you gotta trust your gut. Cause nine times outta 10 [times], your gut won’t guide you wrong. … It may sound dumb, but it’s probably the right answer.’ ”
“So that is my takeaway that I learned, which made me so happy,” Shepherd said. “Because it’s like, ‘Sherri, stop thinking you don’t know it. Listen to that voice in your head and [your gut].’ ”
Shepherd concluded the segment with a promise. “Let me tell you something — I am saying to Celebrity Jeopardy!, bring me back for the redemption ’cause I’m bringing all my encyclopedias to train! I’mma have this!”
Check out the clip from the segment below.
Sherri was on Celebrity @Jeopardy last night. She didn’t win, but did have fun!
#sherrishepherd #sherrishowtv #sherri #besttimeindaytime #jeopardy #celebrityjeopardy pic.twitter.com/8cO1WdC31o— SHERRI (@sherrishowtv) October 12, 2023
