‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Kristen VanBlargan Details How She Prepped to Compete on Show
This… Is… Jeopardy!
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Ever wonder what it takes to be on Jeopardy!? The prepping, the studying, choosing what outfits to wear? In her blog Kristen VanBloggin’, former Jeopardy! contestant Kristen VanBlargan from New York shares her experience from when she appeared on the quiz show on March 12, 2025.
In a brutally honest post, VanBlargan shared her experience preparing for the game show, starting with the phone call when she got the call from Jeopardy! staff in December 2024 for her March 2025 appearance and was instructed to “tell only the people that need to know.” In her case, that meant her boyfriend, her twin sister, and her friend Jeff.
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She immediately began cramming as many useless facts into her brain as she could using flash cards, despite sound advice from friends who urged her to practice more practical skills, such as reaction time, wagering skills, and finding patterns with the game.
VanBlargan spent the weeks that followed studying Jeopardy! games and learning how to win with simple strategies, like betting the maximum on the first Daily Double regardless of her score or figuring out how to find the Daily Doubles (they are often hiding in academic categories). For VanBlargan, the goal was to get to the point where Final Jeopardy didn’t matter.
She also spent a good amount of time working on her coordination to improve her buzzer skills. After buying a practice buzzer, she discovered which hand worked better for her during the game and ordered a copy of The Secrets of the Buzzer by Fritz Holznagel.
vanbloggin.com
When it came time to choose possible outfits, the wardrobe department offered a few guidelines:
• It needs to be able to hold a mic pack in the back.
• No busy patterns.
• Pack enough outfits to give the illusion of a week or more of options in case she was on a winning streak, since several episodes are filmed in one day.
And while there was nothing in the production’s rulebook about the cut of a hemline or neckline, VanBlargan opted for more conservative looks because she didn’t want to attract the wrong kind of attention.
A few options VanBlargan was mulling over included a vintage Chanel skirt suit with an Ann Taylor shirt, a beige Narciso Rodriguez blazer with a Vince Camuto shirt, a Calvin Klein blazer with a J. Crew shirt, a printed Helmut Lang dress, an Armani dress with a Chanel belt, and a red Roland Mouret dress that she decided was too low-cut (see image above). Altogether, she packed two dresses, four blazers, six shirts, two skirts, one pair of pants, three necklaces, and four sets of earrings.
With her bags packed, her reflexes sharpened, and her mind stuffed with facts galore, VanBlargan headed to Los Angeles to compete on Jeopardy!. On the show, she shared a funny story about rescuing a drowning man while “swimming without clothing” while putting in a valiant effort againt the defending champ, coming in second for the night, with a total win of $18,801. An impressive haul, but she ultimately lost to returning champion James Corson, who ended the night with $28,800, making him the winner for the night. However, VanBlargan’s attitude, thorough prep work, and impressive wardrobe made her a winner in our book.
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