Canadian Mattea Roach wins 21st-straight on ‘Jeopardy!’
Posted May 3, 2022 8:09 pm.
Last Updated May 3, 2022 9:18 pm.
Canadian Mattea Roach isn’t slowing down, winning her 21st-straight game on Jeopardy! in an appearance on Tuesday, exceeding the $500,000 earnings mark in the process.
Roach finished with $29,599 after correctly answering the “Final Jeopardy!” question, which, as fate would have it, was concerning Canada’s national anthem.
The contestants were asked, “‘Terre de nos aïeux’ follows the title in the French version of this anthem,” which, as most of us know, is O Canada.
Mattea's favorite Jeopardy! players? Well, why don't you watch and find out. Jeez. pic.twitter.com/S55jJR1Q1H
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 3, 2022
The 23-year-old tutor has the longest streak of any Canadian to appear on the show. She hasn’t made a big thing out of her sexuality, but nor is it a secret. Her Twitter bio, which reads “lesbian, Nova Scotian, 19x Jeopardy champ,” was deliberately crafted to satisfy viewers’ curiosity because she figured people might wonder.
Still, when an American news network tweeted about the “lesbian tutor’s” impressive run, people were up in arms, saying her sexuality has little to do with her success.
Roach, for her part, wasn’t so concerned.
“I think it is relevant to my ‘Jeopardy!’ run, not because it has anything to do with my ability to play the game but because I think it’s part of a larger story regarding queer and trans contestants on this season,” the 23-year-old Toronto resident said in an interview ahead of Friday’s episode.
RELATED: ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Mattea Roach on the TV quiz show’s queer representation
On Monday, Roach earned the fifth-longest streak in the TV quiz show’s history after tying Julia Collins, whose 2014 run lasted 20 games. She also clinched a spot in Jeopardy!’s tournament of champions, set to air next fall.
Born and raised in Halifax, Roach graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in sexual diversity studies, political science and women and gender studies.
Roach will go for her 22nd-straight win on Wednesday.
With files from Nicole Thompson of The Canadian Press
