‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Jamie Ding Reveals His Winning Secret on ‘GMA’
He’s a nice guy! Instead of keeping it to himself, Jeopardy! super champion, Jamie Ding shared his backstage secret with his opponents before they taped their episodes.
Ding, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, appeared on Good Morning America on April 24. The law student and bureaucrat has won 30 games so far and $849,603.
Anchor Rebecca Jarvis said Ding told them that his April 23 game was his best game and, objectively, the best Jeopardy! game ever. “I just thought it was a fantastic game. We all played well,” Ding said. “We had two five-figure true Daily Doubles. I was nervous watching it, and I knew the outcome.”
Ding said he never thought he would win 30 games. “Only an egomaniac would do that,” he said. “But, it’s nice to dream big. The fact that it happened is wonderful.”
Anchor Rachel Scott said, “You are surprisingly quick with that buzzer. I think a lot of people might be surprised to know that you actually share the secret with other contestants, in the greenroom, backstage. What is the secret, and why do you do that?”
Ding said that the game show tells contestants to watch for the lights to pop up on the clue board and then buzz in, but he buzzes in based on the sound of host Ken Jennings‘ voice. “I try to time it that way,” he said.
“One of the other contestants asked me, ‘Do you follow the lights or the sound?’ and I said, ‘The sound.’ Then, I thought, well, it would probably be fair to tell everyone that rather than just one,” he said.
George Stephanopoulos asked him, “So, you’re betting on the rhythm of his voice. Have you ever gotten locked out because of that?”
“I’m pretty sure I have. I don’t always get it perfect, but overall pretty good,” Ding replied. “I’ve got music training, so good timing there, and wonderful comedic timing.”
“You’re doing it again,” Stephanopoulos said as the other anchors all laughed.
Sam Champion asked Ding why he wears orange all the time on the show. “Is it a luck thing?” he wondered.
“It’s just been my favorite color since I was three years old. I always feel good wearing it. If I wear something on the brown or red side, there’s always a risk. I always have some orange on me,” Ding shared.
Ding revealed that he would go to a mall in Los Angeles in between tapings to get more orange clothing. Find out if he will win his 31st game on April 24 and climb the Leaderboard of Legends once again.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
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