Featured J!Buzz

There's a new Jeopardy! champion in town. She's from up North, and is cooking up quite the hot streak. 

In just five games, Mattea Roach, a 23-year-old Toronto-based tutor who hails from Halifax, Nova Scotia, has racked up $117,200 in winnings and secured a spot in the next Tournament of Champions. 

“It feels wild,” Mattea said. “After the fourth game I was thinking, ‘I really want to be in that TOC,’ especially with the incredible season, and all the amazing streaks and fantastic players that have been on.” 

In the upcoming Tournament of Champions, Mattea will compete against some of the most successful players in Jeopardy! history, including 38-game champ Matt Amodio and 40-day winner Amy Schneider.

“I will probably lose to them. But it will be an honor to lose to them,” Mattea said of Matt and Amy. “I’ll try my best, but, I don’t know, 40 and 38, that streak is a long way away.”

While Mattea may be modest about her gameplay, her Box Score statistics are already impressive. So far, she has responded correctly to 83 percent of her Daily Doubles and has a 80 percent Final Jeopardy! accuracy rating.

As a proud Canadian, the five-day champ says she is excited to be representing her home country.

“To be a Canadian on Jeopardy! is always very special. Alex Trebek’s legacy is such a big part of the show,” Mattea said. “So, yeah, I’m just glad that I’m putting on a good show for all the folks back up North.”

Following her first win, Mattea shared plans to pay off her student loan debt with her winnings. Now, she is thinking of bigger plans for the future.

“I’m going to talk to a financial advisor and see how I can invest it wisely,” Mattea said. “It’s absolutely unbelievable, like a life-changing amount of money, for someone at my age.”