LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Jeopardy!' has been creating fan favorites ever since it started airing on television. There are some contestants who make a mark, while there are some who leave a trail of great stories and better catchphrases for both audience and upcoming contestants. Such is the story of Matt Amodio, who earned himself quite a spot on the show and became the show's third-longest consecutive winner back in October 2021 after 38 wins. But, Amodio comes with many achievements even before his debut on the show.
Now, fans will see Matt Amodio compete again for 'Jeopardy! Masters' tournament, where six of the show's highest-ranked contestants will compete in two games, and it's all set to begin on May 8. The game show will be hosted by Ken Jennings.
READ MORE
'Jeopardy!' is CHANGING: Here's what you need to know about revamped game show
Who is Matt Amodio?
Yes, you read that right. According to Matt Amodio's Twitter account, we can confirm that he is indeed a lifelong Jeopardy! fan, with his listed achievements and Alma Mater, being a 'Jeopardy!' fan is also a thing that represents him. He came on the show in 2021 and was a big winner, he is also a trendsetter and left the show with the catchphrase "what's" and "a zeal to win."
While rummaging through Matt's Linkedin, we came across many information. He is a postdoctoral researcher at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and a PhD holder from Yale in Machine learning and AI and completed that last year in 2022. And his Linkedin bio reads, "He is interested in data-driven decision-making and is always looking for challenging problems to solve."
'I only tried out at the behest of my dad'
In an interview, Matt had shared about his love for 'Jeopardy!' but he wasn't very interested in auditioning for it. "I was only reluctantly trying out because I didn't think I would make it, and even if I did make it, I wouldn't be very good," Amodio told Entertainment Weekly in 2021. "I only tried out at the behest of my dad, who insisted, as any parent would, 'My son is awesome. He would do so well.' And so I said 'Fine, I'll do it for you.'"
How much has Matt Amodio won on 'Jeopardy!'?
Back in 2021, Matt Amodio came on the show and had the highest winnings during a regular-season play. Amodio earned the amount of $1,518,601 in total, as per Jeopardy.com. His motivation was Ken Jennings and Amodio shared that before coming on the show he saw all of Jennings' videos and learned about the tricks and tips from the reigning champion. Amodio shared about it in an interview and said, "I think that my strategy going in was watch Ken [Jennings] and try to do whatever Ken does. I would just take any notes I could from him," the 'Lifelong Jeopardy! fan said.
What is 2023 'Jeopardy! Masters' tournament all about?
The 'Jeopardy! Masters' 2023 will see six of the highest-rated champions come back for more and compete against each other to get the throne. The tournament will be streamed live on the ABC channel starting at 8 pm EST and will also be streamed on Hulu, so get a subscription, if you haven't.