Jeopardy! player spills behind-the-scenes secrets from set after opponent Neilesh Vinjamuri impresses with second win

Sean Duffle, a Spanish teacher, revealed what it’s like filming the beloved game show

A JEOPARDY! player has spilled behind-the-scenes secrets from the set of the beloved game show.

Sean Duffle answered fan questions about what it’s like filming Jeopardy!, shortly after he appeared on Monday night’s episode.

Jeopardy!’s Neilesh Vinjamuri continued his winning streak after he ended Monday's episode with $41,000
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Jeopardy!’s Neilesh Vinjamuri continued his winning streak after he ended Monday’s episode with $41,000Credit: Jeopardy!

Jeopardy!’s Neilesh Vinjamuri along with his competitors Sean Duffle and Monica Anderson
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Jeopardy!’s Neilesh Vinjamuri along with his competitors Sean Duffle and Monica AndersonCredit: Jeopardy!

Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings during Monday night's episode of the beloved game show
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Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings during Monday night’s episode of the beloved game showCredit: Jeopardy!
The Spanish teacher from Michigan competed against returning champion Neilesh Vinjamuri and Monica Anderson, a master control operator from Virginia.

Neilesh continued his two-day winning streak on Monday, with the software engineer from Pennsylvania collecting a whopping $41,000 in winnings.

After the episode aired, Sean started an online thread for fans to ask questions about his experience on the show, describing it as “an absolute whirlwind.”

Posing a series of questions, one viewer asked the Jeopardy! contestant, “Did you stick around for the day’s tapings? Did it feel weird seeing the other games before this one air on TV (since you knew that all the other champs had to have lost in order for Neilesh to be the returning champ)?”

“Actually, come to think of it, were you an alternate for the previous taping day?” the user continued.

Sean clarified that he “didn’t stick around” to watch the other games being taped because his family members, who came out to support him, were “a little antsy to explore” Los Angeles.

New Jeopardy! episodes are filmed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and five games are taped in a day.

Sean confirmed he wasn’t an alternate contestant but happened to draw the “short straw to go first for the filming days.”

On whether he knew the results of the other games ahead of time, Sean said, “I actually didn’t watch recent episodes due to being out of the country for the last month, so I’ve followed on the sub and J Archive.”

“So, Neil’s winning episode was news to me until I got to this sub,” he added.
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Sean also revealed he and Monica didn’t know Neilesh was the returning champ until “very close to the first episode filming of the day.”

He went on to praise Neilesh’s performance, writing, “He was super kind and a great competitor.”

TWO GOOD TO BE TRUE

Fans said they “loved watching Neilesh,” adding “he did very well” during Monday’s episode.

By the end of the first round, he whizzed past Sean and Monica, earning $9,000 after he correctly guessed the Daily Double.

Sean was in second place with $3,600 and Monica came in third with $2,000.

Neilesh more than tripled his lead by the end of Double Jeopardy, with total earnings amounting to $26,100.

Monica was far behind with $7,600, while Sean trailed with $5,200.

The Final Jeopardy category was all about authors, but Neilesh was the only contestant who correctly guessed the clue.

Host Ken Jennings read out the question, “‘Love’ is within the titles of three of his most famous books; a fourth, ‘The rainbow,’ calls love ‘The flower of life.'”

Neilesh won his second Jeopardy! game after he wrote down DH Lawrence as the answer, taking his daily earnings to $29,100.

Sean won $2,000 while Monica left with $1,000.

Jeopardy!’s returning champ Neilesh Vinjamuri is a software engineer from Pennsylvania
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Jeopardy!’s returning champ Neilesh Vinjamuri is a software engineer from PennsylvaniaCredit: Jeopardy!