‘Jeopardy!’ contestants reveal the one question they’re fed up hearing on the show

The rumor had never been substantiated with facts but it still swirled around for many years.

PUBLISHED OCT 30, 2025

Screenshot of the set from an episode of "Jeopardy!" (Cover Image Source: YouTube | Jeopardy)

"Jeopardy!" fans are, at times, annoyed at the contestants for getting easy answers wrong or with the showrunners for ruling out an answer due to mispronunciation. Fans have every right to voice their opinions. However, rarely has one seen the contestants on a show get annoyed at fans. Yet that is exactly what happened on social media when former players of the popular game show grew tired of a question from fans.

Ken Jennings 'Jeopardy!' (Cover Image Source: YouTube| Jeopardy!) — Ken Jennings 'Jeopardy!' (Image Source: YouTube| Jeopardy!)

Contestants on "Jeopardy!" are usually given clues across various categories, and they have to guess the correct answers. These categories can be anything, from questions relating to science, literature, sports, and even pop culture. Naturally, fans are sometimes left wondering how a contestant can even prepare for such a large variety of questions. As a result, some believe that contestants are given material to study beforehand, as per a TV Insider report.

No one has ever found or provided any proof to support this claim, but somehow, the theory has stood the test of time. However, according to the former contestants of the show, this theory is nothing other than a myth. Turns out that no one gets any material to study before going on the show, and former contestants have grown tired of people asking them this question over and over again. So, some of them decided to clear things up once and for all on Reddit.

It all started when a fan of the show posed the question in r/Jeopardy. They asked if contestants are made aware of the categories beforehand. “It feels like they are given the categories and are able to study before the actual game. I notice it all the time, but today finally made me want to ask and figure it out,” the post added. The fan even claimed that contestants mispronouncing words was a sign of them remembering something they had read instead of actually learning about the matter.

Screenshot showing the three contestants (Image source: YouTube/Jeopardy!)

These claims did not go down too well with former contestants, who did not take long to bust the myth. “For what feels like the 1000th time (since I get asked this a lot by customers at work), no, we don't get study guides, advance notice, or any other information about the games,” one former player wrote. They even said that contestants weren’t allowed to even interact with the crew members beforehand and had to sign contracts to prevent cheating.

“Whoa whoa whoa - contestants definitely do NOT get categories or questions in advance! Mispronunciations happen often on the show,” another explained. “No, we aren’t. You’re right that people are likely mispronouncing things because they’ve only read them, but you’re incorrect that they read them from a study guide before taping,” one more contestant clarified.