Jeopardy! simply launched its thirty eighth season with the newest quiz whiz Matt Amodio on a sizzling successful streak. Trying in direction of his twentieth consecutive victory, Amodio is edging up in direction of Jeopardy! icons Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer.
The Yale Ph.D. scholar is a longtime fan of the legendary sport present and needed to make a relatable impression on viewers when he first launched himself.
‘Jeopardy!’ champ has escalaphobia
After years of watching Jeopardy!, Amodio knew that he must give some private data when he was launched to viewers. Amodio determined to indicate a extra accessible aspect to himself aside from his data of trivia. On his first Jeopardy! episode, he revealed that he has a concern of escalators, also called escalaphobia.
“As an average audience viewer, you just think so highly of these [contestants],” Amodio instructed the Washington Post. “I know that’s how I feel when I’m watching them on TV. So I wanted something that shows a weakness, to show a little humanity there.”
The Wheaton Metro station escalator in Maryland, which stretches for 230 toes, significantly causes anxiousness for Amodio.
“I’m absolutely terrified of even moderately sized escalators, much less that monster,” he admitted.
Matt Amodio is in the ‘Jeopardy!’ highlight
Amodio tends to be on the quiet aspect and isn’t used to being the focal point. With Jeopardy! now often in the headlines on account of the seek for a everlasting host and the ousting of govt producer Mike Richards, Amodio is getting even larger protection.
“I think I’ve probably been the beneficiary of even more attention, because it’s such a unique moment for the show,” Amodio mentioned. “I’m an introverted person; I’ve never experienced even moderate amounts of attention, much less this much attention. I’m actually kind of surprised I’ve enjoyed it.”
Typically newfound fame could be a blended bag. Amodio obtained some flak on social media for his alternative of phrasing, selecting to all the time use the phrase “what” at the starting of a query even when “who” could be extra applicable.
“I didn’t think it would be overly noticeable to viewers,” he defined. “Maybe some super die-hards, it would raise their eyebrows, but I left wondering if anybody would ever comment on it at all. Then, not only did somebody comment on it, it was kind of the main focus of the discourse. . . . I actually found it kind of amusing, that people could be so irritated by it. But the only problem I had was when people interpreted it as a sign of disrespect. That was obviously not at all what I intended.”
Title of ‘Jeopardy!’ champ is pretty much as good as the money prize
Finding out laptop science at Yale, Amodio famous that his Jeopardy! winnings will turn out to be useful.
“I will admit that I had some financial considerations in my immediate future — when am I going to graduate, what am I going to do immediately after — and some of the factors there were, how much is rent again?” Amodio instructed Entertainment Weekly. “This has been a blessing in terms of liberating me from that. So on a very practical level, that’s helpful.”
Whereas the money is a welcomed perk, Amodio is ecstatic over his new title.
“More importantly, the idea of just saying ‘Jeopardy! champion’,” he remarked. “Once I won once, they call you a Jeopardy! champion, and that moniker stays with me forever.”