'Jeopardy' contestant instantly falls from first position to the last due to a major blunder

It may seem that "Jeopardy!" contestants are often considered some of the smartest people in the country based on their knowledge of trivia related to everything from history to pop culture. However, even the bright ones can fall short sometimes. That is exactly what happened in a recent episode of the show in which one contestant made a shocking error to end up last in a game that they were leading. It was a rather shocking moment as the contestant had a big lead before entering the final round of the show.

The contestants took part in the second round of the two-part Second Chance Tournament, as per a report in TV Insider. They were Eugene Huang, Dave Widmayer, and Pete Johnston. All three contestants were playing for money and a spot in the Champions Wildcard.

All three contestants had impressive performances, and by the time the first break came around, Widmayer was in the lead with $3,600, while Huang and Johnston occupied the next two spots with $2,200 and $800, respectively. The report also suggested that, unlike the game before this one, this one saw quite a lot of misses. However, things did not change for Widmayer all that much. By the time the Final Jeopardy came around, he was still in the lead with a commanding $20,000.

Johnston had jumped Huang for second place with $13,400, while the teacher found himself with $11,200. The competition between second and third seemed tight, but first seemed to have the win in the bag ahead of the last round. That is exactly where Widmayer committed a giant blunder. A lot of the fans were left surprised after seeing that moment.

The category was called “Movie Inspirations,” and the clue read, “A store’s mingling of displays of 2 different holidays inspired a poem & years later, a 1990s film with this name.” Johnston was the first to answer this question, and he said, “What is The Nightmare Before Christmas?” That was the correct answer. He had wagered his whole purse, bringing his total to $26,800. This put him in the lead.

Huang had also given the correct answer and had wagered $8,600. This brought his total up to $19,800. Now, with $20,000, Widmayer had to guess this right to win it all. He might have guessed it correctly, but written down “What is The Nightmare Before Halloween?” This was a shocking mistake, and the leader for most of the game ended up losing a wagered sum of $13,400. His new total was less than Huang’s, and he went from first to last in an instant.

Watch the game in the video here.

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