'Jeopardy' contestant shares her emotional BTS experience after making it to the show

"Jeopardy!" is one of those game shows that generations have grown up watching, and many dream of competing on it all their lives. One such contestant, named Kristen VanBlargan, has described the feeling of finally making it to the show on her blog. The former contestant, who appeared on the show in March and won more than $18,000, shared the details of all the drama, the moments of panic, and exhaustion on her journey up to the stage named after Alex Trebek.

VanBlargan wrote on her blog, VanBlogging, how she got the call for the episode and how things were for her. In her first blog post, she shared how scared she was after hearing about the wildfires in Los Angeles, which were expected to hinder the show's proceedings. While she anxiously checked her mail every day, she got the call just a day before the taping in January, when she was already in L.A.

"As the fires raged over the next three weeks, I lied to friends and family about why I was suddenly off to Los Angeles in the midst of a natural disaster," she wrote in her blog. After getting the call, she shared that contestants are required to bring a set of outfits with them to wear on the show. "So I packed up my freshly dry-cleaned outfits and rushed to Sephora after realizing the makeup I’d bought for my audition had expired," she shared.

She added that at the studio, she spotted many of the other contestants and recognized a few of them. "Some arrived with smart pocket squares, others with tie-dyed shirts. All of us hoped the day would require a wardrobe change," she shared. She then added it was Harvey Silikovitz and Alex DeFrank, whom she recognized at the taping. VanBlargan then went on to detail how the contestants are herded inside the studio, made to sign legal documents, and made to turn off their phones. "They gave us a rundown of the rules and a pep talk: for the rest of your life, people will be impressed that you were on Jeopardy!" she wrote further.

"They loved the vintage Italian blazer I brought, but it had a stain that the dry cleaner failed to get out. I opted for my safest option, a navy blazer over a teal blouse," the contestant mentioned. Coming to her games in her second blog, she shared that it was a long wait for her to get on the stage, and she was one of the last set of players to get a call. "I was itching to get on stage. Now, I wanted nothing more than to nap. And then, at last, they called my name, Brian, and I would join James on the Alex Trebek Stage, and I realized I was up against the two players I least wanted to face," she narrated.

"I chugged coffee and tried to calm my nerves as the crew led us to the set," she wrote. VanBlargan then shared that it felt like going against a beast as Corson kept bagging more money. "Under the searing lights, all of the flashcards, the buzzer drills, and the rehearsed anecdotes came together in that moment," she wrote, describing the pressure.

After getting outbuzzed a few times, VanBlargan surprisingly shared that she was at one point zoning in and out. "When the game resumed, I attempted to buzz in on nine of the remaining twelve clues, correctly answering two but missing another two. I found myself in a distant third, $800 to Brian’s $5,000 and James’s $4,600. By this point, I was exhausted, and pulling out a victory seemed like a distant possibility. I started to zone out, and I didn’t buzz in enough," she wrote.

After finishing with more than $14,000 in the game, VanBlargan shared if it was all worth it. "Not a single topic I made flashcards for came up; everything was either something I already knew or had no chance of getting," she wrote. "I wish I had more time on stage to share wild stories, to don mustard-yellow Chanel pantsuits, to make a thrilling all-in wager. But I went for it, and I’ll go for it again," the champion added in the end. 

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