Former 'Jeopardy' players spill secrets about the warning given backstage: 'We needed to...'
Competing on "Jeopardy!" is probably a dream for generations who have grown up watching the iconic show. But the norms that are mentioned and the warnings that players get behind the scenes are some of the show's best-kept secrets. But former contestants who often take to the show's unofficial forum on Reddit to share their backstage experience have spilled the beans.
On the Reddit forum, one fan @QuaintMelissaK, called for the former contestants to share their experience on the show. Taking it back to the Covid era, one former contestant shared a link to their story where they shared what it was like to be on the show with all the restrictions. "Every Jeopardy! The contestant received a bag with an N95 mask, hand sanitizer, and alcohol wipes. Staff told us we needed to carry this bag everywhere we went," they said in the Buzzerblog report.
Meanwhile, another participant wrote that it was all quite chill, back in the day when Alex Trebek was still hosting the show. "You relax and have a nosh. You fill out the contracts and finalize the discussion topics. If you are going onstage, you get to visit the makeup artist. If it is after the third show, you get to have lunch at the commissary on the show's tab. In 2002, it was a 10$ credit. You then go out into the audience to watch the game(s). You may have no contact with the outside world," @superdupermensch wrote.
Meanwhile, another fan recalled a fun moment when the show suffered a technical glitch. "When I was there, the board broke and we spent all day watching movies," @centaurquestions mentioned. Another player shared a rather personal detail as well. "If you don't get on until later in the day, you form lots of nervous bonds with other contestants who don't get on until later in the day," @Jaksiel revealed.
Similar details were also shared by former champion/host, Buzzy Cohen, in his podcast, "This is Jeopardy!... The Story of America's Favorite Quiz Show." According to a report from Entrepreneur, the former champion who won $164,603 in a nine-day streak on "Jeopardy!" spilled some secrets that were hidden from the audience for a long time.
Cohen revealed that the show sometimes tapes about five episodes per day, meaning the winning streaks do not play out over the many days as seen on TV.
He shared that the winners are required to change outfits between tapings to maintain the delusion of the show being filmed over several days. He added that when he played 10 consecutive days, it was taped in two back-to-back sessions only, which got quite exhausting.
"That is certainly something that I think people are surprised by. It really makes the fact that people can go on these long runs even more impressive because it's endurance as well as mental and physical stamina," Cohen noted. He added that he didn't anticipate how busy the schedule could be.
