Matt Amodio Opens Up About His ‘Jeopardy!’ Streak and Getting Romantic Proposals

CBS

Matt Amodio’s impressive Jeopardy! winning streak came to a halt on October 11, ending his time on the show at 38 consecutive wins and a total of $1,518,601 in earnings.

Reflecting on his experience in a guest article for Newsweek, the Ph.D. student from New Haven, Connecticut, opened up about his recent loss and his overall time on the long-running CBS game show. “I’m sad that I lost,” he explained, “but then I take a step back and think of how much I accomplished.

“The day I lost, I went in feeling a little “off” physically, but I had felt worse before and then won with no problem, so I didn’t think anything of it,” he continued. “Then, I gradually saw that I wasn’t remembering things that I really should have been able to remember, and I was misreading clues in front of me. As that was happening, I began to see where the path ahead of me was leading.”

Amodio’s streak came to an end at the hands of Jonathan Fisher, an actor originally from Coral Gables, Florida, who finished the game on $29,200. While Amodio said that he was “feeling very sad” in the moment, he made sure to compliment his opponent.

“My first thought was that I felt bad for Jonathan Fisher. I remembered how amazing the moment felt when I won my first game, and I was worried that his moment of winning was going to become my moment of losing. So, I wanted to congratulate him, tell him he deserved it and push as much of the focus back on to him as I could.”

Amodio is now adjusting back to his regular life, but his Jeopardy! fame has earned him a whole bunch of fans, including some with romantic interests. “I have had romantic proposals since being on Jeopardy! I’ve had a lot of messages asking me out, but I don’t think when they come via Twitter they really count,” he stated.

“The first two I would say were funny jokes, and I thought it was silly. But there have been a lot since, and I don’t know exactly how to interact with those. I’m single at the moment and I hope that perhaps having been on Jeopardy! will make my life in the dating sphere a little easier!”

He’s also enjoying being a role model in the eyes of younger viewers. “To imagine young kids want to be like me is music to my ears,” he wrote. “It makes me feel so good. I try to tear down that barrier between what people think they are capable of and what they think others are capable of.”

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