'Jeopardy' champion Scott Riccardi clears the air after speculation that he lost a game on purpose

"Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings started off as a star player who set the record for the longest winning streak, which is still intact. But fans do get excited whenever a new player gets a winning streak, and look forward to them setting a new record. But recently, they were let down when a champion lost after 16 straight wins. The record-setting champion, Scott Riccardi, had the fans convinced that he could challenge the current host, Ken Jennings' record of 74 wins. However, his winning run came to an end after he lost to Jonathan Hugendubler in his 17th game. While he ended up with $455,000, fans had a hard time believing he lost naturally. Following speculations of Riccardi losing out on purpose to play in the 'Tournament of Champions,' he has now cleared the air.

In his final episode, Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, New Jersey, went against Jonathan Hugendubler, from Baltimore, Maryland, and Charlotte Cooper, from San Francisco, California. At the start of the game, Riccardi had already collected the highest winnings of all time, with $455,000 in the bank. Playing the game as impressively as he had in the past, Riccardi preserved his lead for the entire game. He had $23,600 by the end of Double Jeopardy, while Hugendubler had $14,000, and Cooper trailed in third with $7,800.

Going into Final Jeopardy, the category was “20th Century Names.” Jennings then read the clue, “According to one obituary, in 1935 he owned 13 magazines, 8 radio stations, 2 movie companies, and $56 million in real estate.” With the clock ticking, all three contestants rushed to write down their answers.

Starting with Cooper, she revealed her answer, “Who is William Randolph Hearst?” which was the correct answer. She wagered $7,800, which brought her total to $15,600. Next was Hugendubler, who also answered correctly. “Oh, this just got interesting. He is correct as well,” Ken Jennings said. He then revealed that Hugendubler wagered $9,601, putting him just $1 over Riccardi.

All eyes then turned to Riccardi, who was yet to reveal his answer. To everyone's shock and dismay, Riccardi answered with, "Who is Howard Hughes?" which was wrong. Jennings then revealed that he wagered $5,000, which brought his final total $18,600, behind Hugendubler.

Riccardi's loss sent shockwaves through social media, with fans going berserk. Amidst the chaos, some fans started speculating that Riccardi threw the game on purpose. In a Reddit thread on the show's unofficial forum, one fan, @Advanced_Carrot_1243, wrote, "I think he tanked the question on purpose so he can play in the Tournament of Champions sooner. Does that make sense? If his streak carries over into next season, I think that means he would have to wait another 12 months for the next T.O.C. Is that correct?"

While the fans ran amok with their speculations, Riccardi himself took to Reddit to clarify things. "Hi everyone, Scott here. Congratulations to Jonathan for the amazing win! It's truly deserved and I can't wait to see him return next season," Riccardi wrote in a thread on Reddit.

He then went on to explain how he came about the answer and what was going through his mind during Final Jeopardy! "As for Final Jeopardy, my mind unfortunately went straight to Howard Hughes, mostly due to overestimating the importance of the movie companies part of the clue; any previous FJs that had come to mind immediately had worked out, so I trusted my initial response on this. Hearst wasn't on my mind at all until the moment Charlotte's answer was revealed, and even then, it didn't immediately strike me as correct until Ken confirmed it," he wrote.

He then went on to add that he was unprepared for the answer, too. "Truthfully, I was just especially unprepared to respond correctly to a clue about Hearst," the champ wrote. He then admitted that he had a problem retaining information before the taping of the show, and his mental notes often eluded him. Nevertheless, he praised his competitors and congratulated Hugenblender on his win. "He [Hugenblender] is a powerful competitor and all-around wonderful guy. Kudos to Charlotte as well for a very strong showing in tonight's game. I apologize that I didn't have any earlier opportunities to be active in these discussion threads, but I'm thankful for all the kind and insightful comments throughout what has been a completely surreal experience for me," he concluded.

While Riccardi's winning streak came to an end, he emerged as the top winner of the show's 41st season. He will now make his return on "Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions" to try to take the ultimate crown.

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