Ken Jennings Finally Copped To The Strange Lies He Told On Jeopardy

Jennings wasn’t just any contestant on the long-running quiz show, though. No, he was the greatest. Not only did he win 74 times on the spin, but he also scooped a whole pile of money during his run. In fact, the unassuming trivia buff won the most cash of any quizzer, going into the history books by becoming a millionaire more than twice over.

Not that Jennings let it go to his head. He was a gracious and much-loved contestant, who enjoyed a friendly chat with Trebek before each show. All part of the game, of course. But after a while, a bit of craziness entered their exchanges, and Jennings indulged in some creative myth-building. Yet all the while, the genial host simply smiled and nodded.

A native of the state of Washington who spent his earliest years close to Seattle, Jennings didn’t stay there for long. With his lawyer dad stationed in different places across the globe, the youngster went with him, spending time in exotic spots such as Singapore and South Korea. In time, he returned to the States for college. There, he found the love of his life, Mindy, and later married her. With a job as a software engineer, he settled down with his wife and kids in Utah.

The quizzer was actually a citizen of Salt Lake City, an apt place for a Mormon. The likeable trivia hound then found himself in Los Angeles in his late 20s, on a visit with a pal. He and his buddy had long thought about trying out for Jeopardy! Little did he know, though, that one fine day in 2004 he’d not only appear on the show but also become its most famous player.

But not on that trip! When Jennings and his pal phoned the production company, they found out that there was nothing doing that week. Still, he wasn’t going to give up just yet. So the pair turned up again a little while later and were sent to an audition at the Radisson hotel. It went well, with the two of them making it through.

That was just the audition, though, and the pair then went on the list for the show. It was back to his cubicle and the tedium of software programming for Jennings. The dream of TV glory became more and more distant as the months went by until the whole idea had dwindled to nothing. But then there was a phone call, telling him he’d be making an appearance on Jeopardy! in a few weeks.

So off the trivia buff went. And it might surprise you to learn, given how well Jennings would go on to do, that he’d set his sights relatively low. He told the Vulture website in 2020, “I didn’t want to be negative going into Final Jeopardy!” All he cared about was avoiding the shame of crashing out without making the last round. He just wanted to win once, so he’d always be able to say he was a champion of Jeopardy!

Jennings would be in good company if he could win — he knew that. He was actually something of a Jeopardy! buff. He’d loved the show when he was a youngster and he could even tell you the names of all the top quizzers who’d starred in the program over the years. So all he really cared about was getting his name up there with the previous winners.

But things didn’t go perfectly for Jennings at the first time of asking. Shockingly, he even got some responses wrong! Not something that viewers would get used to seeing. One of them was a question about countries. It was: “In April 1939 this country absorbed Albania.” Now, Greece was a perfectly sensible answer — it’s right next to Albania — but not the right one, which is Italy!

Of course, some few wrong turns didn’t hold Jennings back. He went on to win. And win and win and win. The rules had been altered not long before he came on, allowing the champ to keep coming back more or less forever. Well, he didn’t last quite that long — eventually tripping over a question about tax firm H&R Block — but for half a year and 74 shows, he was the man.

Given that Jeopardy! was a firm family favorite, Kennings became much loved. He turned up everywhere, entertaining viewers on The Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show, for instance. Newspapers hailed him, with The Christian Science Monitor calling him “the king of Trivia Nation.” Not everyone was quite so complimentary, though, with ESPN’s magazine describing him as “smarmy.”

Still, one man’s “smarmy” is another man’s loveable. And one guy who did seem to love the good-natured Jennings was the show’s host Trebek. Letterman actually had a running joke that Trebek adored him so much that he helped Jennings by cheating (he didn’t, of course). Trebek would even say one time, “Welcome to the Alex and Ken show.”

Jennings had his own way of playing. Instead of, like some, shifting across the board in search of easy answers, he’d go down the list top to bottom. He also betted on his responses in an idiosyncratic way, which seemed to be aimed at ensuring that he’d finish the day by winning a round figure. And he’d have a bit of fun with it, too.

The quizzer would respond to country questions with an accent from that country. One time, when asked about hip-hop music, Jennings — not the most likely fan of the genre — answered, “What is rap, yo?” And his brand of folksy charm revitalized a show that was possibly showing its age. People tuned in to see just how far the “Seabiscuit of geekdom” could go.

In an age before “going viral” was even really a thing, Jennings went viral. Across America, he was a topic of conversation on chat-boards and blogs. People loved his kindness, clapping when his opponents got a tough one right, and the good manners and courtesy typical of his religious background. And they admired his Totoro doll, the Japanese toy he had along with him for luck.

Jennings did actually have some awareness of how he appeared on the show. It was important to him to make a good impression. When he made his Jeopardy! debut, he told the tale of a time he ran out of gas when he was in the desert in Nevada. He’d had to hitchhike with some people he might otherwise not have traveled with. Typically for him, he said thank you during the show.

That wasn’t the only story that Jennings told on the show, of course. Whenever he appeared, he’d have to provide a brand new tale. He revealed to Vulture that the show’s producers would regularly call him and say, “You’re taping again next week, we need more stories for your cards!” But he was just a quiet guy with an everyday sort of life in Utah.

What could the quizzer do, though? He didn’t have anything left to share with the viewers. But he also realized that the show didn’t put in any effort to find out whether he was telling the truth. So when he was asked for yet more stories, the trivia king put his imagination to work. Yes, that’s right — he started to invent tales.

But if you’re imagining a trip to the Moon or a hidden life of international crime, well, your imagination’s probably a bit stronger than Jennings’! He told Vulture, “Alex would look at my card and be like, ‘Hey, Ken, it says here you really like airline food.’” And Jennings would of course confirm that. And no matter what the tale, Trebek would always give the same quizzical look.

The show’s fact-checkers did not, of course, ask Jennings’ family and friends if he really does enjoy airline meals. A reddit user recalled a time when the quiz genius’ sense of humor got a workout. On one show, they recounted, Trebek had suggested that Jennings was running low on things to say and asked if he had a tale to share. Jennings deadpanned, “Well, Alex, I once shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.”

Another redditor, who’d also been a contestant themselves, explained that a whole week of episodes is put on tape every day. So contestants needed five little stories to begin with. Then they have to come up with two each time they take part, so that the one they’re asked is a bit of a surprise. The show’s staff makes sure they can answer with ease.

One story that Jennings can legitimately tell is that he once had a roommate whom you might have heard of. Well, if you’re a huge nerd that is! He lived with Brandon Sanderson, well known in the geek world as a best-selling writer of fantasy books. Sanderson moved in with the quiz nut and lived with him until he moved out to get married.

So what was success like for Jennings? Did he move to L.A. to be on the show? Apparently not. He’d come down for a couple days and film a bunch of episodes. But he had to do this in secret because the actual programs wouldn’t appear on TV for several months. The only people who knew what he was up to were his boss and his wife.

Nobody else had the faintest idea what the trivia monster was up to. He began by staying at a friend’s home in Orange County but he needed to be nearer to the studio. So then he slept at a tiny motel that wasn’t very glamorous. Imagine the motel owner’s face when he realized the man in room 30 was a millionaire quiz-winner!

The champion actually played something like 50 games before anyone even saw him on TV. But once his episodes started airing, things changed. Other contestants now recognized him —and that was actually a downer. The hopeful expressions on their faces quickly vanished after they spotted him! Jennings started turning up as late as possible so he could avoid them.

All good things come to an end, of course, and eventually Jennings was vanquished. But that wasn’t the end of Jeopardy! for him. He later turned up in all sorts of champions’ quiz-offs. For example, in 2020 he took on a couple of the show’s biggest winners in a special show called Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time. Unsurprisingly, Jennings took the crown. The show then snapped up his talents as a consultant.

It wasn’t alone. Another ABC quiz show, The Chase, hired Jennings so that contestants could test their mettle against the GOAT. Other Jeopardy! legends also appear with him, offering quite a trivia challenge. And that isn’t the only place that you might’ve seen the mild-mannered quiz champ. He’s also turned up on shows as varied as Sesame Street and The Simpsons.

If that isn’t enough Jennings for you, you can also read about his exploits on the show in his memoir, Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs. He’s penned several other works of nonfiction as well, offering his own brand of wit and wisdom. And, of course, you won’t be surprised to learn that he’s the author of a trivia book.

With Jennings’ engaging personality and grasp of trivia, it was probably inevitable that he’d step into the shoes of Trebek on the quizmaster’s passing. Yes, the greatest of all Jeopardy! champions has gone on to become a host of the show. He shares that duty with actress Mayim Bialik. So one way or another, fans can still enjoy that Jennings charm.

As the highest-ever Jeopardy! winner, Ken Jennings is like the king of trivia nerds. When he visits places like The Baseball Encyclopedia or a bookstore, Ken will occasionally run into fans who pose questions to him. “I kind of feel like I’ve found my people,” Ken said.

Ken knows all about Jeopardy!'s lengthy history, which is filled with people who love the TV show, like its own announcer. “It’s good for people,” Johnny said in an interview. “Jeopardy! shows you how smart people can be.” It’s also easy for viewers to play along from their couches.

Besides its playability and intelligent contestants, the show also had so much success because of its host of 37 years, Alex Trebek. Alex died on November 8, 2020, of stage IV pancreatic cancer at 80. Before his passing, Alex cemented his status as the world's most beloved game show personality. Ken spoke up about how Trebek's contributions made Jeopardy! tick.

The hosting gig is more than just smiling for the camera. “What has surprised me is his light touch. He’s doing a lot of things at once,” Ken said. “At a mechanical level, he has to deliver 60 clues perfectly to the contestants.” He still can’t bring himself to use the past tense with Alex.

Besides giving the clue, Alex had to clearly and precisely read each one to the contestants, while also commenting on the unpredictable developments of the game. He also used to manage the buzzer that announced a participant had taken too long to answer a question.

The buzzer was eventually changed to an offscreen timekeeper, allowing Alex to concentrate better on the game. “He’s contextualizing the game for the audience,” Ken said. “But he’s also a referee … making calls on the fly regarding timing and correctness.”

“He’s got this incredibly complicated, multifaceted job,” Ken said. In terms of celebrity, Ken explained that Alex “does so much less than you think. He does the minimal amount. He never seeks the spotlight; he makes it all about the game and the contestants.”

Jennings' thoughts about Alex shows how much respect he has for the deceased host. Besides appreciating Trebek, Ken has always felt a connection with game shows. As a kid, he pretended to host Family Feud and Wheel of Fortune in his living room.

In Ken’s childhood, Richard Dawson hosted Family Feud, and Ken loved mimicking his signature speech patterns — like when he revealed one of the clues to the competing families. “Show me ... apple pie!” That habit paid off big time.

His obsession with game shows was a major part of his formative years. “Game shows were so formative to me, and maybe to my whole generation as kids,” Ken said. “We associate them with sick days and good memories.”

Ken’s knowledge of other game shows only makes him better appreciate what’s special about Jeopardy!. “Those [contestants] are generalists and know a little bit of everything, but — possibly as a result of the long jocks-versus-nerds struggle in American life — they’ll miss a question about Tom Landry, where they would never miss one about Tom Daschle,” Ken said.

Before gaining Jeopardy! fame, Ken was a computer programmer in Salt Lake City, Utah in 2004. When he learned about a Jeopardy! casting call in L.A., he drove there with his friend Earl Cahill. He brought a vital book with him, How to Get on Jeopardy! … and Win!

Part of the casting process was passing a test. Ken crammed every night and practiced buzzing in on his son’s Fisher-Price rings-on-a-spindle toy. Since Ken is a Mormon and doesn’t drink, he made sure to include cocktails in his studies.

The studying was worth it. Ken qualified for the game show and won 74 times consecutively. From June to November 2004, he won $2,520,700. Taxes were taken out — 35% federal tax, 7% California tax, and his 10% tithe to his church — still leaving Ken with plenty of winnings. That hot streak gave him a big opportunity years later.

Given his strong background, Ken was invited to be a temporary host of Jeopardy!, and he eagerly accepted. The gig was more nerve-racking than he expected. One of his main concerns was marring Alex’s precious podium. “I would feel like I was letting Alex down if I scratched the paint,” Ken said.

He’s already hosted Jeopardy! for a few weeks of tapings and confesses to stumbling over reading one of the cues. Ken was upset by this error and told his wife, Mindy, about it after his workday ended.

When Mindy asked Ken about his tapings, he was disconcerted. “You’re gonna be shocked to hear that I’m no Alex out there,” Ken said. To which Mindy replied, “Well, maybe on his first day, Alex wasn’t either.” So what does the future hold for Jennings?

Ken is still amazed by this kind of opportunity. “It just seems like such a weirdly specific blessing for a super fan to get to be associated with the game he loved so much as a kid,” he said. “… It’s a super weird feeling. I don’t know why. But I feel so lucky.”

For six weeks, Ken served as Jeopardy’s guest-host. He expressed his appreciation to viewers on Twitter after his time ended, hinting that there will be other interesting guest hosts to look forward to in the future. Trebek's permanent successor, however, was still a mystery.

Mike Richards, executive producer for Jeopardy!, also served as a guest host. "I don’t want to be out here. I want to see Alex out here," he said. "But, there are tens of millions of people who love this show, we love this show, Alex loved this show. I’m just happy to fill in and help out." No matter how the hosting situation evolves, Trebek will always loom large over the classic competition.

The tributes came fast and furious in the wake of the beloved host's passing, with legendary Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings making sure to honor him. "Alex wasn't just the best ever at what he did. He was also a lovely and deeply decent man, and I'm grateful for every minute I got to spend with him," Jennings tweeted.

James Holzhauer, another Jeopardy! superstar, also chimed in: "It was one of the great privileges of my life to spend time with this courageous man while he fought the battle of his life." People sent an outpouring of support messages to the Trebek tributes. But when it came to deciding who would replace him, the producers tried out a number of potential hosts, some of which were wildly unpopular with fans.