Mattea Roach of Nova Scotia qualified for the Tournament of Champions by winning her sixth game in Jeopardy! on Monday night, April 11. The 23-year-old, who hails from Halifax, added another $12,600 to her five-day total of $117,200.
During Monday's episode, Roach attempted to buzz in 39 times, according to the show's statistics tracker. She has been successful 23 times, giving her a 59 percent success rate. Roach answered properly 20 times out of 23 buzzes.
All about Mattea Roach and her big win on Jeopardy!
The 23-year-old was born in Nova Scotia but now calls Toronto home after attending university there. Her father is from New Waterford, while her mother is from Ingonish. Several of her relatives still reside on the island.
In 2020, during the pandemic, she revealed that she auditioned for the show online because she was "bored" and wanted to try something new. She was invited to film an episode in Los Angeles in January. She said to Global’s The Morning Show,
“Like, the worst thing that happens is I don’t hear back, and the best thing that happens is maybe I got on the show, so there’s literally no downside to taking the test. Then I got the best possible outcome.”
So far, the best possible outcome is being able to pay off her student loans and possibly appearing in a future Tournament of Champions game. In an interview with CityNews, she said,
“For anybody who watched the show, I was pretty overwhelmed and pretty emotional. I had not expected when I was going down that I was going to win a game.”
Mattea Roach also spoke about her high school debate coach from Sacred Heart, Brian Casey, and thanked him for helping her attain her Jeopardy! milestone.
Mattea Roach's father, Phil Roach, claims that despite how amazing she has been on the show, he is just as proud of something else other than winning it. He said in an interview with CTV Atlantic,
"We're proud. We're really thrilled that people are getting behind her. How well she's doing with all of the attention because it's a bit of a whirlwind. It kind of can be overwhelming, and it was a little unexpected as she's won a couple of games to see how the media interest has grown. But she's really handling it well."
According to the Jeopardy! website, players who have won four times or more are eligible to compete in the Tournament of Champions, but they are not guaranteed an invitation.
Roach will return to defend her title as the returning champion on Tuesday's program. The games took place in Los Angeles earlier this year.