‘Jeopardy’ Champ Re-records Winning Moment Due to ‘Huge Reaction’

When it comes to game show etiquette, “Jeopardy” contestants are used to following certain standards. For Drew Basile, the first “Survivor” contestant to compete on the game show, his excitement was quick to overshadow what should have been a “poised” celebration.

During an episode of “Rob Has a Podcast,” the Michigan-based graduate student — who admitted to never really watching “Jeopardy” before appearing on the show — revealed that he had been forced to re-record a winning moment due to his “huge reaction.”

“Obviously, I had a big reaction at the end of the tiebreak because, you know, it’s like a Western standoff,” he said, referencing his game against opponent Josh Heit. “I had such a big reaction that I think we had to re-record it.”

Basile admitted to having a “big reaction” to his tiebreaker win, saying, “I was like, ‘Let’s go!'” while pumping his fists in the air. When asked about the producers’ reaction, a podcast co-host inquired, “They were like, ‘We’re not doing that?'”

Basile responded, “Well, ‘Jeopardy!’ is so classy. I had a huge reaction.” He added that the retake felt “a little bit muted” compared to the criticism he faced on “Survivor.” Basile’s over-the-top reactions earned him mixed feedback from fans of the show, but the negativity hasn’t seemed to bother him.

“I was kind of a polarizing figure on ‘Jeopardy!’” he said. “They have so much poise, and they’re all dressed up to encourage those best qualities of politeness and rectitude, and people don’t really showboat.”

“I had no issue with either of those things, I love showboating,” Basile added. “I think [because I have] a little bit more personality than your average winning contestant, [it] could have been a little unnerving for some viewers,” he speculated.

“Everyone loves to root against the winner,” Basile continued. “You don’t want the winner to be some kind person who you would invite into your home, that’s boring. I’ll gladly take being the heel … I’ll lean into it,” he concluded.

Basile finished with a seven-day winning streak, behind 15-day winner Adriana Harmeyer. He earned $129,601 before he was defeated on June 28.

In contrast to Basile, “Jeopardy” contestant Erin Buker made a game show record this season by earning the second-lowest score in the competition’s history.

After an episode in June, the stay-at-home mom walked away with -$7,200. The low score followed former contestant Patrick Pearce’s -$7,400 in July 2021.

Buker told Fox News Digital that while she had a “pretty cool” time taping the episode, she would describe it as an “out-of-body experience.”

“You’re looking, you see the clues, but you don’t remember what category it is,” she explained. “You’re reminding yourself to not, you know, make weird faces, because you’re on live television. … The way they tape it is like it’s the live show. They really try to keep it really tight.”

She continued, “So you just, like, don’t make weird faces, don’t do anything odd, which is always kind of just running through your head. And then, so you’ll see the answer in front of you … it’s all very blurry, I can’t explain it.”

“This is all happening, and it’s just all happening at once, and there’s just a lot of noise in the head, and it’s kind of an out-of-body experience, too,” she said.

Source: Fox News Digital