Jeopardy! star Amy Schneider reveals hopes about big return for JIT and admits she ‘feels a lot of pressure’

JEOPARDY! icon Amy Schneider has revealed she’s not taking her star power for granted in the game show’s new Invitational Tournament.

Amy returned on Monday and beat 13-day champ Austin Rogers and 2007 ToC winner Celeste DiNucci.

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Amy Schneider returned to Jeopardy! for the new Invitational TournamentCredit: Jeopardy!

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She said she feels a ‘lot of pressure to win at least a game. I just have to think about game one’Credit: Jeopardy!
The brand-new JIT is worth $100,000 and a slot in May’s Jeopardy! Masters with 27 legends coming out of the woodwork to compete.

Amy, of course, won 40 games on the nightly show and then the 2022 Tournament of Champions.

She most recently competed in Masters Season 1, placing fifth and getting bumped out of Season 2.

Now, she can get back into Masters by winning the Jeopardy! mini-tournament packed with power players.

‘REALLY MOTIVATED’

Amy revealed before taping the JIT that she’s not taking anything for granted and just hopes to at least win one game.

“It’s not that I didn’t feel I had earned my way into it because I’ve been successful,” Amy shared on the podcast Inside Jeopardy!.

“But I do feel a lot of pressure to come in and win at least a game.”

“Because I was 0-for-six the last time I was on stage (for Masters),” Amy added.

“I’m really motivated to get back [Into Masters] and really to see Mattea [Roach] again.

“But that said, I look at this field, and I’m like, only one of the 27 of us is going to Masters.

“It just seems crazy that 26 of these people are not going to win.

I hope to win, but I just have to think about game one.”

Amy stunned fans by not just winning Monday’s episode but doing so in a powerhouse runaway against two seasoned champions.

JIT LINEUP

A murderer’s row of 27 trivia titans are returning- minus a few no-shows

Sam Buttrey – finalist in the 2022 Tournament of Champions and sixth place in Masters Season 1
Amy Schneider- winner of the 2022 Tournament of Champions and fifth place in Masters Season 1
Andrew He – runnerup in the 2022 Tournament of Champions and fourth place in Masters Season 1
Brandon Blackwell – Chaser on The Chase and Teen Tournament semifinalist
Colby Burnett – winner of the 2013 Tournament of Champions and third-place in the team-based 2019 All-Star Games
Lily Chin – winner of the 2017 College Championship and 2017 ToC semifinalist
Leonard Cooper- winner of the 2013 Teen Tournament and All-Stars Games player
Celeste DiNucci – 2007 Tournament of Champions winner
Chuck Forrest – Season 2 five-day champ from 1985 and 1986 Tournament of Champions winner
Dhruv Gaur – 2019 Tournament of Champions semifinalist
Ben Ingram – eight-day champion and winner of the 2014 Tournament of Champions
Alex Jacob – 2015 Tournament of Champions winner
Mackenzie Jones – eight-day champion and 2015 ToC quarterfinalist
Sam Kavanaugh – winner of the 2021 Tournament of Champions
Larissa Kelly – six-day champion and 2019 All-Star Games winner
Alan Lin – six-day champion and 2009 ToC runner-up
David Madden – 19-day champion in 2005, the second-longest streak holder next to Ken for decades, and All-Star Games winner
Pam Mueller – 2001 ToC semifinalist and third place in 2019 All-Star Games
Austin Rogers – 13-game champion and 2017 ToC runner-up
Monica Theiu – 2012 College Championship winner
Jason Zuffranieri – 19-day champion
Arthur Chu – 11-day winner and 2014 Tournament of Champions runner-up
Victoria Groce – Chaser on The Chase
Matt Jackson – 13-day champion and 2015 ToC runner-up
Terry O’Shea – 2014 College Championship winner and 2014 Tournament of Champions semifinalist
Dan Pawson – nine-day champion and 2009 Tournament of Champions winner
Jennifer Quail – eight-day champion and 2021 Tournament of Champions runner-up

AMY-ZING!

Amy, 42, holds the game show’s second-longest streak with 40 consecutive victories, placing her only behind now-host Ken Jennings.

Amy also made history as the first transgender tournament winner by clinching the $250,000 crown in 2022.

Amy published a tell-all book since she last appeared on Jeopardy!, where she unflinchingly discussed her transition and difficult past.

The engineering manager living in Oakland, California, is now married to Genevieve Davis, 25.

They tied the knot in a small private ceremony on May 9, 2022 at a courthouse in California.

Amy’s $250,000 win and $75,000 from Jeopardy! Masters earned her $1.62million, the fifth-highest total winnings on Jeopardy! ever.

WHAT IS: THE JIT?

The JIT is a new annual tournament airing from March 20 until early April.

Unlike other tournaments this season, JIT opens the floodgates to iconic older champions who fans haven’t seen in decades.

The three-week JIT sees past greats – some recent ones, and even contestants-turned-Chasers – back at the buzzer.

The winner goes gets $100,000 and a slot in Masters Season 2, which airs in May on ABC Primetime.

There will be nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals, and a best-of-four final.

This means the legendary player who notches two final games wins the title.

The now-annual throwdown will decide one of the six spots in Masters, with the first three going to last season’s finalists – Matt Amodio, winner James, and Mattea Roach.

The other Master’s slots go to Yogesh Raut for winning the 2024 Tournament of Champions and a still-unannounced Producer’s Pick.

After JIT, regular episodes resume for the first time this season either between April 8 and April 10.

‘TEDIOUS’

It’s no secret that Jeopardy! hasn’t aired a non-tournament episode all season, which started in September.

In fact, fans haven’t seen a set of new players since last July.

Many viewers are getting impatient on social media, tired of tournament play and tired of being tired of tournament play.

“I live and breathe #Jeopardy for life but can’t keep up with all of the ongoing tourneys – what happened to the regular season??” one fan recently wrote on X.

“Are we ever getting new contestants on #Jeopardy?” cried another.

“Jeopardy has not aired a regular, returning champion-type game in, like, six months or more. Almost this whole season has been various tournaments of past champions. It’s gotten really tedious. #Jeopardy” wrote a third.

Once JIT ends, the rest of this season will consist of regular play at long last.

WHO IS: WINNING SO FAR?

Here are the other contestants who have won their first matches and are now semifinalists:

Andrew He won the premiere after (also) getting knocked out of Masters Season 1.

Larissa Kelly, who won last Friday’s match and previously won the 2019 All-Star Games and was the 2009 ToC runner-up

Matt Jackson, who returned for a big win after winning 13 games in 2015

Jeopardy! airs at 7 p.m. ET on ABC, where fans can catch all the JIT action.

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The JIT features a murderer’s row of 27 trivia legends fighting for that one slot in May’s MastersCredit: Jeopardy!

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Amy is ‘really motivated to get back’ into Masters after being knocked out having fared poorly in Masters Season 1Credit: Getty

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While fans were thrilled to see Amy again, Ken Jennings hasn’t hosted a non-tournament episode since last summerCredit: Getty