[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Friday, February 21 episode of Jeopardy!]
Love was in the air in the latest Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament game when contestant Roger Craig revealed that he’s got married to one of the show’s all time greats!
Craig is a Season 27 six-game champion, 2011 Tournament of Champions winner, Battle of the Decades 2nd runner-up, and 2019 All-Star Games participant. On JIT on Friday, February 21, Craig faced Maya Wright, a graduate student from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a 2018 Teen Tournament second-runner-up and 2023 High School Reunion Tournament 2nd runner-up. John Focht, a Season 37 four-game champion and a 2022 Tournament of Champion semi-finalist, was the other competitor. He is a baseball software team lead originally from El Paso, Texas.
Craig, an applied scientist from Arlington, Virginia, is a winner not only on Jeopardy!, but also in love. He gave an update on his life during Friday’s show and revealed that he is now married to Julia Collins, a 20-day champion. During her run from April 21 to June 2, 2014, Collins won $429,100. At the time, it was the third-highest total in Jeopardy! history. It is now the ninth highest. She had the most consecutive wins of a woman until Amy Schneider passed her in 2021.
During the introductions, host Ken Jennings asked Craig what was new with him since he last played with him in the All-Star Game in 2019 and Craig mentioned getting married.
“Well, at the All-Star Game, I reconnected with Julia Collins. I first met her in New York about 10 years ago and we’re married now,” he said.
“Wow. Jeopardy! power couple,” Jennings said as the audience clapped. “Congratulations!”
“Yeah. It’s the best thing to ever happen to me,” Craig responded.
“But, you’re here instead of Julia. Are you guys not going to ever play each other on Jeopardy!?” the host wondered.
“Oh! We would love to. She would love to be here, but the logistics just didn’t work out, so hopefully next time,” Craig said.
“Maybe next time we’ll see you both,” Jennings told him.
Obligatory pic of me and a very serious @KenJennings throwing gang signs. pic.twitter.com/XkLW1dpRh7
— Roger Craig (@rogcraig) April 11, 2014
Reddit users were shocked to hear that the Jeopardy! players are a couple.
“Woah Roger and Julia are married that’s an interesting fact,” one fan said.
“Caught me off guard ngl,” said another.
“That was certainly a surprise to learn! (pleasantly though). Perhaps that may explain why Julia declined the invite. Someone who knows better than me: is there some sort of conflict of interest with spouses playing against each other on Jeopardy?” a fan inquired.
During the first round, Craig was in third place with only $800 until answering the Daily Double correctly. “Think of the 4-letter acronym describing Muhammad Ali & it makes sense this was his sign,” the DD read.
“What is Capricorn?” Craig answered, which was correct, bringing him up to $1,800, and second place.
By the end of the first round, Craig and Wright were tied for second place with $2,200. Focht was way ahead with $7,800.
Craig skyrocketed to first place in Double Jeopardy! by finding all of the DD’s in that round. Correctly answering all of them and making outrageous wagers, he earned $30,000. Craig dominated the rest of the round answering most of the questions correctly. He ended with $36,000. Focht was in second with $13,800 and Wright had $1,400.
The Final Jeopardy! question determined the game and led Craig to the win. It read, “Yale takes credit for starting a commencement tradition when it gave this composer an honorary doctorate in 1905.”
Wright answered correctly with “Who is Elgar?” wagering only $47, making her final total $1,447. Focht answered the same, adding $915, ending with $14,715. Craig also wrote Elgar and wagered nothing, ending with $36,000. He advances to the semi-finals. Maybe Collins will show up in the audience during the next round.
Monday’s game will feature Avi Gupta, 2019 Teen Tournament winner, fan-favorite Amy Schneider, 2022 ToC winner, and Luigi de Guzman, five-day winner.
Jeopardy!, Weekdays, check your local listings
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