A month after Canada’s Mattea Roach made Jeopardy! history with her 23-game win streak, a Vancouver graphic designer is getting her chance to start a streak of her own.
Tessa Matsuzaki will appear on Wednesday night’s episode of the popular trivia game show as she attempts to unseat current champion Eric Ahasic.
Matsuzaki, who works as a graphic designer, was born in Vancouver at St. Paul’s Hospital and attended Kitsilano High School growing up.
Having grown up watching the show and having an affinity for Canadian host Alex Trebek, now being a contestant is a dream come true.
“I remember watching it when it first came back on with Alex as host in the 80s. I can’t say I watched it daily throughout my childhood, but because Alex Trebek is a proud Canadian, I always felt so much loyalty to Jeopardy!,” she told CHEK News.
She’s been in the Jeopardy! “system” since January 2020, but the COVID-19 pandemic briefly derailed her process of getting on the show. But eventually once travel rules were relaxed, she went to Los Angeles to film in April 2022.
“It’s amazing. It’s actually kind of funny, I was saying to a friend that it’s weird being nervous about something that happened a while ago,” she said.
Matsuzaki will have to go a long way if she hopes to join Roach in the Jeopardy! hall of fame — the Toronto resident walked away with the fifth-longest win streak in show history and the fifth-highest earnings in the show’s regular season with a total haul of $560,983 USD.
“When I arrived in L.A. it was in the middle of her total amazing run,” she said. “I was super curious if she was going to walk in when I got to the studio.”
She can’t say anything about how her appearance went, or if she’ll back as a returning champion, so only time will tell.
Watch Matsuzaki’s debut Wednesday night at 7:30 p.m. on CHEK TV.
Well… it’s on the official @Jeopardy site now, so I guess it’s REALLY happening! Watch me on Wed, June 8!
In Vancouver/SW BC, it’s on @CHEK_media at 7:30pm PDT (in other parts of Canada, go to https://t.co/Ri5yRGxQUx to find your local station). #jeopardy #jeopardycontestant pic.twitter.com/1AWgfLftIV
— Tessa Matsuzaki (@tessamatsuzaki) June 6, 2022
CHEK News
