Green Bay 'Jeopardy!' champ Ben Chan made a triumphant return Monday, defeating Hannah Wilson and nearly doubling his winnings
Kendra Meinert
Ben Chan proved it takes a defending champ to beat a defending champ.
The St. Norbert College philosophy professor from Green Bay made his much-anticipated return to “Jeopardy!” on Monday and extended his streak to four wins by ending Hannah Wilson’s $229,801 run at eight.
It was a triumphant return for Chan, who won an impressive $60,000, nearly double his combined $69,001 winnings from his earlier three games. His fourth consecutive win also makes him the 11th contestant eligible for the next Tournament of Champions.
The unusual circumstances that had two reigning champions going buzzer to buzzer came up after Chan’s initial winning streak in April was paused when he tested positive for COVID-19 and was unable to travel for tapings. The quiz show promised to bring him back, but it meant instead of going up against two new contestants he would have to face current champ Wilson, a data scientist from Chicago.
The NFL parallels of a champ from Green Bay taking on a champ from Chicago — fierce NFC North rival cities — wasn't lost on Chan, who had some fun with it in Packers and Bears terms on Twitter last week.
He missed the first clue he answered on Monday, with a rare -$600 in red on his podium screen, but then quickly picked up steam and cruised to victory. He found all three Daily Doubles and correctly answered each. He gave a little cheer when Milwaukee showed up as an answer in the "In the Neighborhood" category ("Brewer's Hill in this city is home to historic buildings once used Miller & Schlitz.") He was up on Wilson, his closest competitor, by $34,200, when it was time for Final Jeopardy.
Twitter responded to his resounding win with variations of "Ben is baaack!"
It was Chan’s first game with host Mayim Bialik. Ken Jennings hosted the three previous shows he was on.
During the contestant chat, he shared with her a story about finding a 60-year-old love letter in a yearbook at a historical society. He did some “internet sleuthing” and found the couple lived at an assisted living facility an hour away. He went to visit, letter in hand.
It turned out be an “amazing, wholesome” experience, Chan said, and in true Wisconsin fashion, they all ended up watching a Packers game together.
Chan returns Tuesday with a total of $129,001 in winnings.
Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.