Ken Jennings reveals surprising way he prepared for his Jeopardy! win
During the latest episode of Jeopardy!, Ken Jennings shared a little glimpse into how he prepared for his historic 74-game winning streak on the hit NBC game show
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Ken Jennings reveals surprising way he prepared for his Jeopardy! win(Image: Jeopardy!)
The latest contestant on Jeopardy! revealed Ken Jennings had a part to play in his success.
The beloved game show is currently in the midst of the finals for the 2025 Second Chance Tournament, and during the December 18 episode, Pete Johnston, Dave Widmayer and Eugene Huang were invited back for a chance at redemption and the opportunity to win a spot at the Tournament of Champions.
Throughout the episode, Eugene stayed on the top of the leaderboard, leading the 51-year-old host to ask the contestant how he prepared this time around. Ken questioned, “How have you been preparing for a possible second chance at the Jeopardy! stage?”
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The New Jersey teacher then admitted, “Well, in terms of learning things, I learned by watching you Ken.”
During his preparation, he came across a Youtube video where Ken was telling the audience what to study for.
“What caught my ear was world capitals and cocktails, which I am notoriously bad at knowing,” he confessed.
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Ken then revealed he also cracked down on the average bar menu before making his Jeopardy! debut in June 2004.
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Jeopardy! is in the middle of Second Chance tournament(Image: Disney/Getty)
“Me too, I had to study cocktails when I was on the show,” the host admitted, before joking, “You and I can tend bar at some point if it comes to that.”
In 2005, Ken made Jeopardy! history as he won the special competition after winning 74 consecutive games the year before. He is also the most famous winner of the Tournament of Champions, which is what every Second Chance contestant has their sight set on right now.
The winner of the current tournament will receive $35,000 and the right to participate in the ToC.
The Tournament of Champions, which will air on Jan. 27, is an annual special that brings together the most successful champions from the past year to compete for the title and significant cash prize. Contestants can qualify for the tournament from Dec. 9, 2024 to Nov. 14, 2025.
This year’s game will maintain the 21-player format.
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Ken Jennings won 74 Jeopardy! games in a row(Image: Jeopardy!)
Since signing on as a guest host in 2021, Ken has already hosted three Tournament of Champions.
Ken is grateful to still be a part of the show 20 years after his debut.
“It’s just such an incredibly fun job,” the host told TV Insider. “You’re playing along with the smartest folks and getting to see them do their thing up close. I really feel very lucky that I’m still part of the Jeopardy! family after all these years.”
He doesn’t plan to leave anytime soon either, revealing, “I have no plans to hang it up.”
Jeopardy airs weekdays at 7 p.m. EST on ABC.
