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Jeopardy! fans ‘alarmed’ by ‘weird’ detail before champ Ryan Long’s HUGE bet & comeback for 11th win
JEOPARDY! fans were stunned as Uber driver Ryan Long drove to his 11th straight win Friday.
But an "alarming" and "weird" detail scored some attention before his HUGE wager and "nail-biting" comeback.
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Mayim, 46, is hosting Jeopardy! for a third week in a row, returning after alum Ken Jennings' prior three weeks at the helm and announcement he'd be out for "months."
“I'm handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) Mayim Bialik for a few months," the fan-favorite surprisingly tweeted, adding, “We are lucky to have her! I'll be back before the end of the season.”
The permanent hosting slot is still on the board and will be decided by the end of Season 38 in July 2022.
But tonight Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native Ryan nabbed his eleventh straight win with $209K total earnings and a huge game-saving bet - all while there was something quite large on-screen.
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Ryan went into Final Jeopardy in second place to right podium Aaron Gulyas, as Mayim noted "It's anybody's game."
One fan tweeted, "What a battle between Ryan and Aaron."
The new player had $14.8K to the returning champ's $13K going into the last round, Mayim stating: "My heart is beating fast."
However, Ryan responded to Final Jeopardy, on "Sports and Entertainment" with "Peyton Manning" correctly - and his wager was surely his touchdown dance.
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BIG WAGER & BIGGER SIGNATURE
Ryan wagered a massive $12,999, all but $1.
With $25,999K total, the rideshare driver fans are loving cruised ahead in an amazing finish - and the bet was what clinched it.
Aaron, unfortunately, didn't know it and wrote "Nature Boy Rick Flair," but wagered $0.
If Ryan hadn't wagered so boldly he wouldn't have won.
"Nail biter! #Jeopardy" one fan tweeted on the sight to see.
";#Ryan went for broke #Jeopardy," wrote another.
"Wowwww!" wrote a third.
"I cheered from the sofa when Ryan Long won again!" wrote a fourth.
"YES RYAN!!! @Jeopardy LETS GOOOOOOOOO! Had me sweating," wrote a fifth.
However, fans also couldn't help but notice Aaron's signature was in all-caps and simply enormous during the game.
"Tell Aaron's signature to stop shouting at me. #jeopardy," one fan tweeted.
"LOUD NOISES!" wrote another sharing a close-up of the player's penmanship.
"We have a game. AARON is going for the jugular," tweeted yet another fan earlier on, emphasizing the all-caps element - before Ryan's hail Mary bet that saved the day.
RYAN GOES LONG
Fans are loving Ryan's big personality, big bets, and sincerely humble presence since arriving last Friday.
During his first Q&A, the contestant pumped out an Arnold Schwarzenegger impression.
Since then, he's shared he grew up watching the storied show with his mom, who thought "Alex Trebek was so handsome."
He also shared he once worked on an "Amish farm," then noting, "People are gonna think I’m weird with all these stories."
The broad-shouldered bet-maker also sweetly recanted he once fostered "four baby kittens" and "bottle-fed them" before his mom adopted them.
Ryan has indeed made some bold bets, he's bet a huge $8000 on Daily Doubles multiple games last week as one fan on Twitter praised his gameplay, "8k Daily Double again. Nice bet Ryan."
But there's more to the quiet quiz wiz than many may have expected.
Ryan told last week that he was living paycheck-to-paycheck for more than a year before flying to Culver City.
He also shared he only packed two dress shirts, because that’s all he could afford.
“I didn’t study or anything. I probably should have perused something, but I just didn’t,” Ryan said, as preparing flashcards or bringing books is a consistent contestant move. “I just kind of went in and did my thing.”
He also during his first week, "In case anybody’s wondering why I’m constantly squinting and adjusting during the game…it’s because my glasses are 3000 miles away, where they will do the most good."
Thankfully, the specs appear to have been flown in - even if they've unfortunately fogged up a bit, his calm consistency hasn't, and he also tweeted that the wardrobe department has been "mixing and matching" his shirts hinting he could be buttoned up for a few more.
“I want to take my kid fishing,” Ryan sweetly told the outlet on his eight-year-old son whose bead necklace he wears on stage as he keeps winning. “That’s really where my head is at.”
“If this opportunity hadn’t come up, I don’t know what I was going to do long-term,” Ryan also shared.
Ryan is now 12 games shy of Canadian tutor Mattea Roach's 23-game tear that ended when she lost by $1 earlier this month.
He has gloriously hit the $200K mark along with Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider, Jonathan Fisher and Mattea all during Season 38.
KEN VS MAYIM MAYHEM
Aside from the stunning streak of contestants who've been on just that, the undecided hosting slot between Ken and the Big Bang Theory actress has rushed the fan discourse this year.
The duo began filling in for the legendary Alex after his tragic 2020 passing and a fleet of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts, including now-disgraced Mike Richards.
The show's ratings nearly doubled to 9.7M viewers when Ken made his first appearance.
When Mayim took over her hosting duties the headcount dropped to 5.9 million viewers during a college championship and dipped that low this week.
Even Mattea stated after her run she wanted Ken to take over.
"As a contestant, there is something really special about being on stage with the greatest player of all time," she told .
As one fan tweeted last night, "I actually like both Ken and Mayim, so that's that, at least for me," though another replied that the 74-game and Greatest of All Time winner is still a "better fit for the show."
The fact that the hosting slot is still undecided has been a huge point of discussion with ardent Jeopardy! fans, as the late Alex had hosted since 1985.
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Meanwhile, the five-game limit which has allowed players like Ryan and Mattea to become gameshow MVPs was lifted in the early 2000s.
Next week, Ryan will be back on the field for game 12.
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