Mattea Roach

Mattea Roach (born October 26, 1998) is a Canadian tutor and game show contestant who held a 23-game winning streak on the game show Jeopardy! from April 5, 2022, to May 6, 2022. Roach was the most successful Canadian to play Jeopardy! and is placed in sixth for all-time regular season wins.[2] She[lower-alpha 1] won US$560,983 throughout her run, getting the correct response to 93 percent of buzzed-in clues. With her streak, Roach qualified for her season's Tournament of Champions.[6]

Mattea Roach
Born (1998-10-26) October 26, 1998
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Alma materTrinity College, Toronto[1]
Years active2022–present
Known for23-game winning streak on Jeopardy!

Early and personal life

Roach graduated from Sacred Heart School of Halifax and has family residing in Halifax and Cape Breton. She was raised for the first six years of her life and part of her adolescence in Halifax.[7] She maintains some traditions from Sacred Heart's Catholic curriculum and frequently prayed the Hail Mary during her Jeopardy! introductions.[8] She graduated from the University of Toronto with a bachelor's degree in sexual diversity studies, political science, and women and gender studies.[9] At the time of her run, she worked as a Law School Admission Test (LSAT) tutor and lived in Toronto.[10]

Roach identifies as lesbian.[11] She has said that her favourite game show growing up was Wheel of Fortune but that she also grew up watching Jeopardy![12] She has tattoos of Talking Heads quotes and has met Bill Gates.[13] In a May 2022 interview published in Vulture, Roach said that she would prefer Ken Jennings, who hosted the majority of her Jeopardy! episodes, to become the show's permanent host.[14]

In her May 4, 2022, episode, she spoke of having participated in Choir! Choir! Choir!'s 2018 show performing Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up" with Astley himself in attendance.[15]

Jeopardy!

Throughout her run, Roach won 23 games and US$560,983,[16] equivalent to over 750,000 Canadian dollars.[17] At the time of the end of her run on May 6, 2022, she was fifth in total all-time regular season earnings and fifth in total regular-season wins.[17][16] She is ranked sixth in total all-time regular season earnings, fifth in total regular-season wins, and tenth in all-time winnings (including tournaments) as of January 18, 2023.[2] At 23 years of age at the time of her winning streak, she is the youngest contestant to have won as much as she has.[8] After winning her first game and $32,001, Roach proclaimed "My student loan is paid off."[18][19]

Roach has said that when she arrived for her first game, she had expected to face off with Amy Schneider, whose 40-day streak had ended, unbeknownst to most, a few months before Roach started competing.[20] The season in which she competed also included 10-plus-game winning streaks from Schneider, Matt Amodio, and Jonathan Fisher.[21]

As the most successful Canadian, Roach lamented that the late former host and Canadian Alex Trebek was not still hosting the game. Of her game strategy, Roach has talked about focusing on the things that are controllable.[22] She also called her strategy "bad", saying it was about minimizing loss versus gain maximization.[23]

Roach was the only person on stage for Final Jeopardy! for her 12th game on April 20, 2022, the first time that scenario had occurred since October 13, 2020.[24] Later, in her 17th appearance on April 27, 2022, Roach had exactly double the score of the second place opponent, Ben Hsia, at the start of Final Jeopardy! Hsia bet all his earnings and responded to the clue correctly, tying him with Roach. Roach also responded correctly, betting only $1, winning the game by $1.[25]

Roach lost her 24th game on May 6, 2022, bringing a close to her winning streak after she failed to provide the correct response in Final Jeopardy! The contestant who dethroned Roach was Danielle Maurer, a digital marketing manager from Peachtree Corners, Georgia, who finished with a winning total of $15,600, beating Roach by $1.[26][27]

Roach appeared in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions that aired in November 2022 but lost to Andrew He.[28]

Post-Jeopardy!

In September 2022, Roach was named as the new host of The Backbench, a biweekly political interview podcast from the Canadaland network of political and media analysis podcasts.[29]

In 2023, she participated as one of the panelists in Canada Reads, championing the eventual winner, Kate Beaton's graphic novel Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands.[30]

See also

Notes
  1. Articles and Jeopardy! promotional material discussing Roach in late 2022 have used both she/her and they/them pronouns.[3][4][5] Pending further clarification, this article uses she/her pronouns for consistency.

References
  1. "U of T Alumna Mattea Roach Racks Up Jeopardy! Wins: Toronto Star, CTV". University of Toronto. April 11, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  2. "Leaderboard of Legends | Jeopardy.com". www.jeopardy.com. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  3. Levitt, Michael (November 1, 2022). "'Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions' has the makings of being the greatest yet". NPR.org. Retrieved November 1, 2022. Mattea Roach won a total $560,983 during their streak.
  4. What is the Tournament of Champions? | Inside Jeopardy! Ep. 3 | JEOPARDY!. YouTube. August 15, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022. Next up, we have Mattea Roach. So excited to welcome them back to the TOC.
  5. "Canadian Jeopardy 'super-champ' Mattea Roach to compete in tournament of champions". CBCNews.ca. The Canadian Press. October 25, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022. Roach[...] earned her spot in the tournament this spring[...]
  6. McKeen, Alex (April 22, 2022). "Mattea Roach is on the longest 'Jeopardy!' winning streak for a Canadian. Here's how it's giving her and her family a new way to think about joy". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  7. Thompson, Nicole (April 22, 2022). "Canadian tutor Mattea Roach on her 'Jeopardy!' streak and 15 minutes of fame". CP24. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  8. "'Jeopardy!' super champ explains why she talks to herself during shows". Good Morning America. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  9. "U of T grad Mattea Roach continues hot streak to enter Jeopardy! Hall of Fame". U of T News. Toronto: University of Toronto. April 22, 2022. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  10. "Mattea Roach's Jeopardy! hot streak continues with lucky win No. 13 | Globalnews.ca". Global News. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  11. Shatto, Rachel (April 21, 2022). "Lesbian Jeopardy! Champ Mattea Roach Extends Her Winning Streak". The Advocate. Los Angeles CA: Pride Media. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  12. Lau, Rebecca (April 7, 2022). "Nova Scotia's Mattea Roach now a 3-day Jeopardy! champion with almost $81K". Global News. Toronto: Corus Entertainment. Retrieved April 24, 2022.
  13. All the Things We've Learned About Mattea So Far | Jeoopardy!, retrieved April 30, 2022
  14. Ivie, Devon (May 5, 2022). "Jeopardy! Champion Mattea Roach Knows She's Divisive". Vulture. New York Magazine. Retrieved May 9, 2022.
  15. "Toronto tutor Mattea Roach cruises to 'Jeopardy!' win No. 22". Calgary Herald, May 4, 2022.
  16. "May 6th, 2022". Jeopardy!. Sony Television. May 6, 2022.
  17. "May 6th 2022". CTV National News. May 6, 2022. CTV.
  18. "Overheard on Set: 'My Student Loan is Paid Off' | J!Buzz | Jeopardy.com". www.jeopardy.com. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  19. "What's next for Mattea Roach following historic Jeopardy! run". CityNews Halifax. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  20. Trepany, Charles. "'Jeopardy!' contestant Mattea Roach clinches 14th win, is now a top all-time contestant". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  21. Dado, Natasha (April 21, 2022). "Mattea Roach Wins 12th Consecutive Jeopardy! Match, Accomplishing a Rare Game Show Move". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  22. McKeen, Alex (April 8, 2022). "She's now a four-time Jeopardy! winner. Hear this Canadian's advice on getting in the zone". The Toronto Star. ISSN 0319-0781. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  23. Ivie, Devon (May 5, 2022). "Jeopardy! Champion Mattea Roach Knows She's Divisive". Vulture. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  24. "The latest 'Jeopardy!' episode had a rare ending". Deseret News. April 21, 2022. Retrieved January 18, 2023.
  25. "Canada's Mattea Roach extends Jeopardy! win streak to 17 games". CBC. April 27, 2022.
  26. Underwood, Lindsey (May 7, 2022). "Mattea Roach Ended Her 'Jeopardy!' Streak. Her Blazers Live On". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 7, 2022.
  27. "After fierce 23-game run, Canadian Jeopardy! champ Mattea Roach loses by $1". CBC.
  28. "Mattea Roach Ended Her 'Jeopardy!' Streak. Her Blazers Live On". CBC News. November 11, 2022. Retrieved November 12, 2022.
  29. Connie Thiessen, "Jeopardy! champ Mattea Roach named new host of Canadaland’s ‘The Backbench’". Broadcast Dialogue, September 6, 2022.
  30. "Meet the Canada Reads 2023 contenders". CBC Books, January 25, 2023.
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