Jeopardy! champ Joey DeSena admits to ‘embarrassing’ Tournament error as Ken Jennings is ‘stumped’ by ‘roug…
JEOPARDY! winner Joey DeSena has admitted to an ‘embarrassing’ error during tonight’s tense episode as he competed in the Champions Wildcard Tournament.
Thursday’s tough game in the nail-biting Jeopardy! postseason even left host Ken Jennings stumped as the game show buff confessed the final clue was too difficult.
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Ken Jennings hosts Thursday’s Jeopardy! gameCredit: Jeopardy!
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Joey DeSena returns to the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcards TournamentCredit: Jeopardy!
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The returning champion let out a huge sigh after a risky Daily Double wagerCredit: Jeopardy!
The 2025 Winter Champions Wildcard Tournament continued on Thursday with returning winners from past games coming back to try to extend their Jeopardy! resume.
Joey won two games during season 41 and already accumulated $46,698.
The development engineer from Raleigh, North Carolina was joined by Eamonn Campbell, a lawyer originally from Manchester, Vermont and Mehal Shah, a software engineer from Seattle, Washington.
On the very first clue of the game, Joey came out swinging as it turned out to be a Daily Double.
Under the “History” category, host Ken read the clue: “Before a papal tribunal in 1633, he stated, ‘I abjure, curse & detest the aforesaid errors.’”
He correctly answered “Who was Galileo?” – adding $1,000 to his total from the jump.
Going into the Double Jeopardy! round, Mehal had made some quick-witted responses to secure the lead with $6,600.
Joey was in second with $6,200 while Eamonn remained in third with $2,800.
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Jeopardy! contestants L-R: Joey DeSena, Mehal Shah and Eamonn CampbellCredit: Jeopardy!
Ken then introduced the next round of categories – which led to Joey admitting his “embarrassing” mistake.
“SHORT STORIES, COMMON BANDS, TRAVEL USA, THE JETÉ SET, MAKE MINE MATH, MORE OR LESS,” the categories for today’s game were revealed.
However, it was one category in particular that led to some confusion for the returning champ in the middle of the game.
After the episode aired, Joey went online to share some behind-the-scenes secrets from his time on the Alex Trebek stage.
Jeopardy! fans divided over ‘silly’ final question that stumped all three contestants and cost returning champ the game
“Embarrassingly, we were about three clues into the category before I realized ‘The Jeté Set’ was about ballet, and not just asking about random French words,” he wrote.
He went on to share more of his thoughts about the game and paid respects to his competitors.
“Nothing but respect for Mehal and Eamonn in this game. Two tremendous competitors (and more importantly, great people) that I enjoyed getting to know both during our sequestration in the morning and later on after this game.
“Fun fact: We spent most of our sequestration time playing Contact and watching The Princess Bride in the Wheel of Fortune green room – a true crowd-pleaser.
“Going into Final, I felt very good about not needing to bet much to get a wildcard spot, even if Mehal surpassed me to win the game.
“But the wager depended on the category. When I saw ‘Trees,’ I couldn’t bet $0 fast enough,” Joey wrote.
Jeopardy! Set Secrets
Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:
Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.
Under the category “Trees,” Ken revealed the Final Jeopardy clue: “Order Arecales, this tree gets its name from Roman times, a leaf from one was placed in a victor’s hands after a contest was won.”
Everyone had the same response of “What is Laurel?” – and all three players were wrong in failing to guess “What is Palm?”
RISKY BUSINESS
Due to Joey’s smart thinking of betting $0, he remained in the lead, ending the game with $24,000.
Mehal was in second with $19,600 while Eamonn gave everything he had but ended with $0.
Joey provided another on-set secret when he revealed that the last clue was so tough, Ken was even stumped.
“First thing Ken said as the credits started to roll was that FJ was tough, and he didn’t know it either.
“I can’t tell you how much better that made me feel,” he said in his post-game thoughts.
Joey’s win advances him to the Wildcards semifinals as tomorrow will be the last quarterfinals of the tournament.
However, as both Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune shut down filming this week due to the Los Angeles wildfires, it’s unclear if future airings will also be delayed.
If you or a loved one impacted, an expansive list of resources to aid humans and animals, as well as an information hub and community connector for LA fire victims, can be found on this guide put together by Mutual Aid Los Angeles Network.
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Joey advances to the semifinals of the Wildcard TournamentCredit: Jeopardy!
