A JEOPARDY! contestant has revealed they MADE their on-screen sweater.
Flooring fashion-focused fans during her Mayim Bialik-hosted game, she was even spotted “knitting backstage.”
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Actress Mayim, 46, is hosting Jeopardy! after Ken Jennings’ recent stint and announcement he’d be out for “months.”
“I’m handing the keys back to the talented actor-producer-writer-director (!) Mayim Bialik for a few months,” the fan-favorite surprisingly tweeted in May, adding, “We are lucky to have her! I’ll be back before the end of the season.”
The permanent hosting slot is said to be decided by the end of Season 38 in July 2022.
But in the meantime, one recent player revealed the wardrobe department wasn’t needed.
Jenny Sholar, who came in third place Tuesday night – scored plenty of points with fans in the “wholesome” category.
She wore an eye-catching sage green cable-knit wool sweater over a dinosaur-printed dress.
One fan tweeted, “Inquiring minds want to know, was the sweater hand-knit??!”
Another posted, “I’m wondering if she knitted it herself.”
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Twitter star OneEclecticMom, who steadfastly recaps every single contestant’s clothing choice, and who Jeopardy! has written about, was impressed too.
She wrote, “Wow, the cable knit detail on the sleeves of this sweater is amazing (unique color too!), and I think I spy a dinosaur on her shirt collar?? I bet her teacher outfits are incredible.”
Jenny – a Madison, Wisconsin pre-school teacher who also revealed she was a “chipmunk researcher” during her Q&A on Tuesday – finally buzzed in.
She downloaded Twitter expressly to share after her match that she indeed knitted her top.
TO DYE FOR!
Jenny posted in response, “Hi! Jenny here.”
“My friend send me this thread and I downloaded Twitter just to tell y’all that YES, I did, its my first sweater ever!”
“It’s Flax by TCK on fishermen’s wool and I dyed it with Rit to go with the Dino dress.
“Thanks for watching, it was a blast!!”
Contestant Ketty Pan, who played in Monday’s game (five episodes are taped back-to-back in one day) then wove in her own praise.
She tweeted, “Ketty here. Walking by during our tape day and seeing Jenny knitting was one of my favorite parts of the day!”
Jenny then added in her second (ever) tweet, “Dino dress courtesy of Etsy!! If you think my outfits are good you should see my co-teachers.
Thank you for saying such nice things about me.”
One fan gushed, missing a chance for a ‘y’ pun: “I die for that color!!!!!”
Another wrote, “The fact that she was knitting on set is even MORE charming!! Why are Jeopardy contestants just the most wonderful talented humans??”
FASHION SHOW
The late Alex Trebek’s iconic mustache might hint that Jeopardy! always welcomes eclectic fashion details.
Last month, John, a Brooklyn New York “performing arts publicist” stepped across the internet with his Sasquatch shirt.
The bright red, western-style button-up appeared to have Bigfoot, the mythical creature – walking in opposite directions above the pockets.
Fans online went bananas, so to speak, over the wardrobe choice, and exclaimed these mammoth moments are why they loved the show.
“Is … that Sasquatch on his shirt? #Jeopardy” one tweeted in shock.
“Lol this contestant on @Jeopardy has Bigfoot on his shirt,” another wrote.
“This is ridiculous and I’m in awe. I love when contestants bring their personal flair to Jeopardy,” wrote a third.
And sometimes, clothing choices even mirror players’ stories.
Former 16-game champ Ryan Long turned heads with his June $299K run – all while wearing two dress shirts and two vests he mixed and matched with each victory.
His eight-year-old boy Nathan also made his bead necklace that peaked out of them.
But the items were all he could afford, the rideshare driver was living paycheck-to-paycheck for more than a year before flying to Culver City and was hospitalized for a year with COVID.
He once tweeted on his shirts and (sometimes foggy) glasses as fans loved his empathetic run: “While I’m here, let me settle this once and for all…it’s fog. I’m definitely getting a new pair of glasses. So, new shirts. New glasses. On the list. #jeopardy.”
Meanwhile, previous champ Mattea Roach shared on-screen that she has SEVEN tattoos including two LEG tattoos dedicated to the band The Talking Heads
Ken (who’s slicked back his hair) and Mayim (who sometimes repeats her suit jackets, as critics love to tear) began filling in for the legendary Alex after his tragic 2020 passing.
It narrowed down to the two after a runway of Season 37 celebrity guest hosts, including now-disgraced Mike Richards.
The fact that the hosting slot is still undecided has racked up quite the debate, as the late Alex had hosted since 1984.
The show’s ratings nearly doubled to 9.7M viewers when Ken made his first appearance.
When Mayim took over her hosting duties the headcount dropped to 5.9 million viewers during a college championship and indeed, she hasn’t bested Ken’s ratings since during Season 38.
It’s been an impressive season contestant-wise – Canadian tutor Mattea Roach, beloved rideshare driver Ryan, Amy Schneider, and Matt Amodio, have all topped the all-time streak charts and will compete in the Tournament of Champions in November.
As one fan tweeted recently, “I actually like both Ken and Mayim, so that’s that, at least for me,” though another replied that the 74-game and Greatest of All Time winner is still a “better fit for the show.”
Jeopardy! airs weeknights at 7 pm ET on ABC.
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