Jeopardy! execs shade James Holzhauer over bizarre on-set habit

JEOPARDY! insiders have revealed a dizzying dietary detail about the legendary James Holzhauer.

Quiz pro Holzhauer - who recently won the first annual Jeopardy! Masters special - subsisted on pizza and soda during his original winning streak.

On Monday's Inside Jeopardy! podcast, longtime producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss and was joined by former champion Buzzy Cohen.

They admitted they're always curious about what contestants amid a hot streak have for lunch.

Since the game show tapes five episodes daily, fueling up between taping episodes three and four is a must, and James' diet back in 2019 was something they couldn't resist bringing up.

Buzzy said: “I want to know when we come back for a Thursday game after lunch what our three players had for lunch."

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“I was like, 'Wow, that is your brain food?' Like that’s working for you?"

She added: "If I had that, I'd be laying horizontal across the podiums.”

'INTIMIDATION TACTIC'

That Ninja Turtles-esque strategy seemed to work just fine for James.

James won 32 episodes in 2019 and finished $58,484 short of the all-time winnings record.

However, the 2004 ($2.5m) record set by now-host Ken Jennings still stands, albeit that took him 74 games.

Despite not beating Ken’s record, James ushered in a new era of gameplay strategy.

He played laterally instead of top-down to rake in as much money as humanly possible in one game (which is $566K.)

The poker pro got closer than anyone.

He holds the all-time record for the most money earned in a single episode ($131,127). He also holds the slot for the following ten money-winning episodes.

James' initial run had other odd qualities besides his monstrous earnings per game.

During one match of Masters, contender Andrew He brought up a rumor about the infamous James.

He said that as an "intimidation tactic," he's heard that James would take off his shoes and socks in the greenroom during his original run.

James confirmed as much and took off his shoes and socks, showing his bare feet onstage in May.

'HE WOULD WIN'

Jeopardy! Masters was James' first time competing since losing to Ken (but beating Brad Rutter) in the famed three-legend 2020 GOAT tournament.

The self-described game show villain made as much known before winning May's $500,000 Masters special.

During one victory of the tournament, he challenged Ken to a rematch by writing on his podium: "Stop ducking a rematch, Ken."

Host Ken Jennings recently responded to ducking the rematch in an interview with Deseret News.

“Let me be very clear and on the record here: It’s because I’m terrified of playing James because I think he would win.

“I’m very happy to be retired from Jeopardy! because I think I got away with one in the GOAT tournament.”

"And I think there’s a very good chance that he would just wipe the floor with me if we had to play again.

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