Jeopardy! Champion Amy Schneider Shares Best Part of Competing

Jeopardy! champ Amy Schneider shared what she loved most about competing this week. During a conversation with Good Morning America, the top female earner in the show’s history says that providing an example for her community is the most important part of being Jeopardy! champion. That historic win streak has attracted a lot of media attention. But, at the end of the day, she just shows up and plays the game. While speaking to GMA, Schneider also gave the details about her buzzer strategy as well. Only four people in the history of the game show have taken home $1 million in prize money, and she’s the latest. She used to be an engineering manager in Oakland, California. But, now Amy is a household name as people tune in to see how far she can go with this streak. As far as the secret to getting good at this game, she said that “The main secret is just being curious and spending my life learning a lot of stuff.”

“I think that the best part for me has been being on TV as my true self, expressing myself and representing the entire community of trans people,” Schneider explained. “And just kind of showing a different thing than maybe some people have seen, of just being a smart, confident woman and just doing something super normal like being on ‘Jeopardy!’”

The show is probably glad to be moving past the hosting conversation. Sony decided to tell staffers that producer Mike Richards would not end up being a host. “I’m writing to let you know that Mike will no longer be serving as EP of Wheel and Jeopardy! effective immediately,” executive vice president of business and strategy Suzanne Pete told the production teams. “We had hoped that when Mike stepped down from the host position at Jeopardy! it would have minimized the disruption and internal difficulties we have all experienced these last few weeks. That clearly has not happened.”

Richards penned a statement of his own, “I was deeply honored to be asked to host the syndicated show and was thrilled by the opportunity to expand my role,” the executive producer wrote. “However, over the last several days it has become clear that moving forward as host would be too much of a distraction for our fans and not the right move for the show. As such, I will be stepping down as host effective immediately.”

Have you been watching Amy’s run? Let us know down in the comments!