Jeopardy!‘s 2024 Tournament of Champions winner Yogesh Raut has been opening up about his time on the show, including his villain image and doing battle with James Holzhauer.
In an interview with The U.S. Sun, Raut said his victory in the most recent TOC “feels good,” noting, “I didn’t come in with any kind of expectation. I played many practice games. I knew it was a game based on both skill and luck. When I succeeded, it was a combination of skill and other people’s bad luck.”
Raut almost repeated his TOC success when he competed in the second season of Jeopardy! Masters, where he finished as runner-up to Victoria Groce. During the tournament, he bested some of the game show’s greatest-ever players, including Jeopardy! icon Holzhauer.
Despite having dominated the first edition of Masters in 2023, Holzhauer found himself on the backfoot against Raut and Groce. “After the first game, [James] cocooned a little bit. I got the sense he was not thrilled with himself and his performance, but that’s how Jeopardy! works,” Raut explained.
Raut, who was originally a 3-game champion in Season 39, will have a chance to win Masters next year when he returns alongside Groce and Holzhauer. He also said he is open to the idea of joining Groce and Holzhauer as a Chaser on ABC’s game show The Chase.
“Sure, if someone gives me the opportunity to make money off the skills I’ve spent my whole life developing, then yes, I’d be receptive to that,” he told the outlet.
Jeopardy, Inc!
Raut also addressed the criticism he received while on the show and blamed Jeopardy! producers for not handling the situation better. The blogger, podcaster, and freelance writer faced backlash from some fans for his button-mashing buzzer technique and braggadocious anecdotes.
“I dont think I put much pot into it. If people find it funny, that’s their business; if people find it entertaining, it’s a TV show, and that’s fine,” Raut said when asked about his buzzer style. “Maybe if I changed it, I would have done worse. I find it hard to believe I would have done better.”
He added, “I don’t know that I have any obligation to harm my own play because people find the way I treat an inanimate object objectionable. When people demonize a human being because they claim to have sympathy for an inanimate object, it’s a little weird.”
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While Raut took the criticism in his stride, he said he felt the producers could have done a better job of taking care of him, as they did with fellow champion Mattea Roach.
“In one of their interviews, Mattea responded to criticism of their on-stage behavior by saying that producers are always there and always have the option of stopping tape and asking people to not act a certain way if they think it’s improper or causes a distraction,” Raut explained.
“And that did not happen at any point in my run. Clearly, producers did not feel that way because they did not interfere,” he continued.
Raut also noted that the producers “dictated” his stories for the anecdote portion of the episodes, the majority of which asked about his past quizzing accomplishments.
“The big narrative being pushed about me is that I lacked personality and a sense of humor,” he said. “They did lean – in terms of the anecdotes – they essentially dictated what my anecdotes were. I know I got a lot of blowback, but I didn’t choose what any of those topics were.”
“I dont think [Jeopardy!] thought those would get as negative a reaction as they did,” Raut concluded.
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