JEOPARDY! viewers have been left stunned as the show’s reigning champ made a daring decision that inspired gasps from the audience.

Survivor alum Drew Basile won his first game of Jeopardy! on June 19, and has been holding the lead ever since but came close to being dethroned on Friday.

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Jeopardy! champ Drew Basile made a daring move during Friday’s episode that led to a heart-stopping challengeCredit: Jeopardy!

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The Survivor alum took his third victory in a tie-breaker round that stunned audiences and host Ken Jennings (above)Credit: Jeopardy!
In Final Jeopardy, players Drew, Josh Heit, and Richelle Brown were given a challenging clue.

“50 years ago Vin Scully announced he got ‘a standing ovation in the deep south’ for breaking a longtime record,” host Ken Jennings shared.

Michelle shared her response first.

She wrote, “who is ?” and wagered $5.

Her incorrect guess took her from $1,000, to $995.

Josh, who was in second place with $10,000, went second.

He wagered $10,000, and correctly guessed, “Who is Hank Aaron?”

Drew correctly guessed Hank Aaron, but made a major mistake by wagering nothing.

This led to a tie between the two men, which doesn’t happen often on Jeopardy!.

Ken, 50, announced that they would go to a “final tie breaker clue.”

Jeopardy!’s Ken Jennings called out for ‘painful’ move on ‘messy’ show as fans beg producers to ‘intervene’
The host announced a category, followed by a clue.

“This phenomenon named for a 19th century man is apparent in moving light sources as well as moving sound sources,” the clue read.

The first man to ring in with the right answer would be dubbed the winner.

Drew rang in, guessing, “What is Doppler – what is the Doppler effect?”

Jeopardy! Host Timeline

Jeopardy! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts after the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are all of the hosts since the game show’s inception in 1964.

Art Fleming – 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.

Alex Trebek – 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted Jeopardy!’s modern iteration for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.

Guest hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested out a series of guest hosts for week or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton, and Aaron Rodgers.

Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for one week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.

Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.

Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the longest-winning contestant ever) joined Mayim as a guest host and they split hosting duties.

Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a lengthy hiatus, having stood with the writer’s strike, and Ken was named sole host.

Ken now helms all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the nightly show, and other primetime specials like Masters.

The answer was correct and Drew clinched his third consecutive Jeopardy! win.

The win brought his three-day total to $53,282.

VIEWERS REACT

After the episode, viewers took to Reddit to discuss the dramatic ending.

“Drew almost threw away a tiebreaker… intense game!” one person said.

“This is the first time I ever saw a tie breaker on Jeopardy!” another excited viewer shared.

“They played it the right way. Josh bet all to tie, and since they both got the answer, they played a tie-breaker. Great game!” a fan added.

Other fans seemed to enjoy the intensity, noting the difference between previous champ Adriana Harmeyer’s gameplay and that of Drew.

“Good tense game. After seeing the extremely modest Adriana, Allison et al on my screen for so long I’m still trying to get used to the showboating and banter from Drew,” one posted.

Another poster called the episode, “One of the best regular play games of the season so far.”

Others were stunned at Drew’s strategy in Final Jeopardy.

“Looking purely at the numbers, a $1 bet would’ve been the right move, but when your buzzer rate is as good as Drew’s (65% and 70% in his first two games), I do think it actually makes sense to take the category into consideration and go ‘do I think I have more than a 70% chance of getting a sports question right?'” another person posted.

FAN SPECULATION

Drew has been generating buzz in the Jeopardy! fan community since his win over Adriana.

While the competitor appears unstoppable, fans speculate that one player could have dethroned Drew.

On June 19, Drew, Adriana, and Tekla Sauter faced off.

Adriana was trying for her 16th win, after racking up an impressive $349,600 total.

Throughout the episode, Drew dominated the game.

During Double Jeopardy!, drew uncovered a second Daily Double and wagered $10,000.

He won the show in a runaway victory, to the point that Final Jeopardy didn’t matter.

While Drew was in the lead throughout the episode, Tekla had an opportunity to win.

She uncovered the last Daily Double, and had an impressive $6,400.

She bet a modest $3,000, rather than going all in, and fell short of sliding into, or near, first place heading into Final Jeopardy.

On Reddit, fans discussed Tekla’s near-victory.

“I know the headline is the giantslayer, and yet I can’t stop thinking about that last Daily Double wager,” one fan wrote.

“At that point in the game, with not many clues left on the board, trailing the leader significantly, what is the merit of only betting $3000?

“If you get it wrong, you’re dead in the water anyway, so you might as well go big to try to get in striking distance.

“And if Tekla had done that, she probably wins, seeing how FJ turned out. It always hurts me a little inside to see such knowledgeable players fumble away a chance at winning.”

Other fans agreed that while this wasn’t how the game turned out, Tekla had an opportunity to be the champ instead.

“Yeah, that was a shockingly bad wager. Definitely wasn’t understanding the situation and it ended up costing her the game,” another viewer posted.

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Drew Basile has been dominating Jeopardy! for daysCredit: Jeopardy!

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He beat reigning champ, Adriana Harmeyer, ending her long win streakCredit: Jeopardy!

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Fans have enjoyed seeing Drew Basile on Jeopardy! noting his different style of gameplayCredit: Jeopardy!