‘Jeopardy’ champ was forced to re-record winning moment due to his ‘huge reaction’: ‘I love showboating’

When it comes to game show etiquette, “Jeopardy” contestants are used to following certain standards. For Drew Basile, the first “Survivor” contestant to compete on the game show, his excitement was quick to overshadow the what-should-have-been “poised” celebration. 

During an episode of “Rob Has a Podcast,” the Michigan-based graduate student — who admitted to never really watching “Jeopardy” before appearing on the show — revealed that he had been forced to re-record a winning moment due to his “huge reaction.”

“Obviously, I had a big reaction at the end of the tiebreak because, you know, it’s like a Western standoff,” he said, referencing his game against opponent Josh Heit. “I had such a big reaction that I think we had to re-record it.”

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“I was like, ‘Let’s go!'” he said, while he pumped his fists in the air. 

“They were like, ‘We’re not doing that?'” a podcast co-host asked of the producers’ reaction.

“Well, ‘Jeopardy!’ is so classy. I had a huge reaction,” Basile responded. “It was kind of a little bit muted, compared to some of the hate you get from ‘Survivor,’ he added of the retake. 

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Basile got mixed reactions to his behavior on set.  (Jeopardy)

Basile’s over-the-top reactions earned him mixed feedback from fans of the show, but the negativity hasn’t seemed to bother him. 

“I was kind of a polarizing figure on ‘Jeopardy!’” he said. “They have so much poise, and they’re all dressed up to encourage those best qualities of politeness and rectitude, and people don’t really showboat.”

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“I had no issue with either of those things, I love showboating,” he added. “I think [because I have] a little bit more personality than your average winning contestant, [it] could have been a little unnerving for [some] viewers,” he speculated.

“Everyone loves to root against the winner … you don’t want the winner to be some kind person who you would invite into your home, that’s boring. I’ll gladly take being the heel … I’ll lean into it,” he concluded.

The 23-year-old won a total of $129,601.  (Drew Basile Instagram)

Basile finished with a seven-day winning streak, behind 15-day winner Adriana Harmeyer. He earned $129,601 before he was defeated on June 28.

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In contrast to Basile, “Jeopardy” contestant Erin Buker made a game show record this season after earning the second-lowest score in the competition’s history. 

After an episode in June, the stay-at-home mom walked away with -$7,200. The low score followed former contestant Patrick Pearce’s -$7,400 in July 2021. 

Buker told Fox News Digital that while she had a “pretty cool” time taping the episode, she would describe it as an “out-of-body experience.”

Erin Buker earned the second-lowest score in the competition’s history.  (ABC/Jeopardy)

“You’re looking, you see the clues, but you don’t remember what category it is,” she explained. “You’re reminding yourself to not, you know, make weird faces, because you’re on live television. … The way they tape it is like it’s the live show. They really try to keep it really tight.”

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She continued, “So you just, like, don’t make weird faces, don’t … do anything odd, which is always kind of just running through your head. And then, so you’ll see the answer in front of you … it’s all very blurry, I can’t explain it.”

“This is all happening,” she said, “and it’s just, it’s all happening at once, and there’s just a lot of noise in the head, and it’s kind of an out-of-body experience, too.”