‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Champ Yogesh Raut Reveals He Bonded With Isaac Hirsch Over Iconic TV Show

Jeopardy! Masters champion Yogesh Raut has been reflecting on his impressive tournament performance, sharing some behind-the-scenes details from the show and his fellow contestants.

Taking to his Facebook page on Tuesday (June 10), Raut recapped games three and four of the Masters semifinals games, the second of which saw him facing off against 2025 Tournament of Champions finalist Isaac Hirsch and Second Chance winner Juveria Zaheer.

Raut spoke highly of his opponents, noting it was “sad to say goodbye” to Hirsch, who was eliminated in the semis. “But remember (as Victoria [Groce] and I reminded him in the green room), his original streak was longer than that of all three other semifinalists combined,” Raut wrote. “In fact, it was more than DOUBLE the length of the _sum_ of all other semifinalists’ streaks.”

He also revealed how he and Hirsch formed a connection over a mutual love for a particular classic detective show. “I greatly enjoyed bonding with Isaac backstage over our shared love of ’70s-era Columbo — let’s not talk about the revival — and I was honored that he officially endorsed my “J! Masters as Columbo Villains” post, which I’m still quite proud of,” Raut said.

The 2024 TOC winner also shared his thoughts on Zaheer, whom he had competed with in three tournaments “but somehow avoided facing each other until the 2025 Masters semis.”

“We had a lot of whimsical conversations about how to Indian-ize our match-ups,” Raut shared, joking, “My suggestion, which for some reason she wasn’t too keen on, was that I exclusively refer to her as “Juveria Auntie.””

Disney /Christopher Willard

He said that when the Around India category came up, he first tried to remain “stoic,” but once Zazheer “cracked up,” he “followed her lead.” Raut noted that later, producer John Barra told them, “‘Don’t take this the wrong way, because I loved seeing it, but it was like watching two schoolkids share a laugh behind the teacher’s back.'”

In an earlier Facebook post, Raut listed his thanks, noting how Zaheer and super-champ Matt Amodio were especially helpful. “A week or so before the taping, I called Matt Amodio and Juveria Zaheer (separately) and had some fairly intense personal conversations that helped my head remain straight,” he shared. “They put friendship ahead of competitiveness and I won’t ever forget that.”

He also thanked Groce and Zaheer’s family members for providing support during the taping. “In addition to my (relatively small) audience cheering section, Victoria and Juveria’s cheering sections were also rooting for me (albeit secondarily),” Raut wrote. “Victoria and Juveria’s husbands very graciously congratulated me, and I appreciate Alison Betts’ non-partisan choice of clothing.”

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Earlier this week, Raut shared his “final pair of interviews” for the Inside Jeopardy! Podcast, claiming many of his statements were cut out of the edit, including “everything I had to say about racism (as expected) and also a good portion of my thank-you’s, including many of the people I thanked by name.”

He also took a shot at Ken Jennings for mispronouncing his name. “They also cut out me saying, ‘Ken, when Neilesh [Vinjamuri] was up here he made a point of thanking you for pronouncing his name correctly, and I’d love to do the same — just as soon as you start.’ (Also not a hugely surprising elision.)”

As the reigning Masters champion, Raut will return to defend his crown for next year’s tournament.