‘Jeopardy!’ TOC Contestant Opens Up About Family Heartbreak That Almost Made Him Quit

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Jeopardy! contestant Cameron Berry is opening up about the heartbreak that his family experienced while he was on the game show. Berry advanced to the semi-finals of the Tournament of Champions and will play his game on January 29.

“Somehow It’s Already Been A Year: My Journey to the Tournament of Champions,” he wrote on Reddit on January 28.

Berry first played on Jeopardy! in March 2025. He took home a total of  $26,600 after two games. Berry won the Champions Wildcard and advanced to the Tournament of Champions. He will play against Paolo Pasco and Ashley Chan on Thursday.

But, many fans might not know that during his first time behind the podium, he was dealing with a family matter — the loss of his grandmother.

Berry filmed his first game on January 28, 2025, but the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament was filmed in between his games, so his second game would be filmed on February 10. However, his grandmother died on February 2. “Immediately, my priorities shifted, and I had no desire to leave the house, let alone be on television. She had always been one of my biggest cheerleaders and a source of support throughout my life,” he wrote.

 

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“I thought of reaching out to the Jeopardy! team to bow out of returning for personal reasons; The production is very willing to work with contestants around circumstances that may affect their play. I decided against it. I knew if I opted to postpone, I would put some mental block in and never return. I also knew my grandmother would want me to continue doing something I loved as long as I had the chance. We would go back for my next tape day, and whatever happened, I would be fine with it,” he continued.

Berry shared that his return to Jeopardy! helped with his grief because he focused on playing for 30 minutes. He lost the game, coming in third place. “I don’t think my personal loss had anything to do with my bad showing in the game, Steve [Luck] and Josh [Weikert] were simply better players,” the game show contestant said.

“I could close this chapter in my life with a respectable loss and move on,” he said. After that, Berry said that he went back to his normal life and put Jeopardy! behind him. However, when he got a call in October 2025 about competing in the Champions Wildcard, he said yes immediately.

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“So now, a year from my first taping, I’m where I never thought I’d be, on the eve of my ToC semifinal game with Paolo Pasco, who could go down as a generational great in the game! Even though that’s something I couldn’t have imagined, it’s something smaller that sticks with me from the whole experience. On the first night of the tournament, I ran into Josh’s wife, Barbara, in the hotel. Though we had never spoken to me before, the first thing she said was ‘we’re so happy you’re here. We thought we’d never see you again,'” he said.

“Deep in the back of my mind, that was always a regret I had as well, that it was all over. The rest of the year wasn’t the best for me -a breakup, health issues, general malaise- but I think this year has taught me that to actually be willing to feel the happiness I should when something legitimately good happens in your life.”

“And finally, to say the thing I wish I had written on my lectern every time I didn’t know Final Jeopardy, the thing I know she would gently rib me for from what ever afterlife there may be if she saw me write it instead of using the time to try for a correct response, the only correct response that matters to me: I love you, Grandma Peggy.”