JEOPARDY!’S Adriana Harmeyer has blasted the stereotype surrounding her and revealed why she doesn’t like watching the show.

The West Virginia native has smashed through the competition, enjoying a 13-day winning streak.

Jeopardy! frontrunner Adriana Harmeyer has called out the stereotypes against herCredit: Jeopardy!

She said Appalachian stereotypes surrounding education and ability are ‘completely wrong’Credit: Linkedin
Adriana spoke to The Parthenon about the Appalachian stereotypes surrounding education and ability she faces.

“They’re wrong, like, they’re completely wrong. I personally don’t see any reason to let things stop me,” she said.

“There are excellent people everywhere, and I hope that more people will try to do things that they’re interested in.”

Jeopardy! films their episodes ahead of time, meaning Adriana has returned to her job as an archivist at Purdue University in Indiana while the show airs.

“I don’t like watching and listening to myself,” she admitted.

“But I feel like since everybody else is watching and they’re gonna talk to me about it, I want to refresh my memory.

“I’ve now done enough of them that my memory of recording kind of all blurred together.”

As of Friday, June 14, Adriana has won $299,000 in the trivia competition.

Last week, she was praised for her “refreshing” strategy on the game show.

Adriana plays the game the “old-fashioned” way, tackling clues on the board from the top down.
 Jeopardy! contestant called out for ‘missed opportunity’ against Adriana Harmeyer to ‘sneak back’ into the game
Producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss and former contestant Buzzy Cohen discussed Adriana’s winning streak on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.

“Yeah, we haven’t really had someone who’s played as straight-ahead as Adriana,” Buzzy said.

“I know Alex [Trebek] would have loved a player like Adriana because there was nothing he appreciated more than a player who took a category in order,” Sarah added.

“It has been refreshing to see this and to watch her be so successful in doing it, and wanted to know what a category means before she gets to the heart of clues.”

Host Ken Jennings, who took over from late host Alex, previously noted that Adriana plays by “takin categories in order.”

Jeopardy! Host Timeline

Jeopardy! has had a tumultuous history regarding hosts after the death of the iconic Alex Trebek in 2020. Here are all of the hosts since the game show’s inception in 1964.

Art Fleming – 1964 to 1975, he was the original host of the daytime version of Jeopardy! on NBC.

Alex Trebek – 1984 to 2020, the late, great Alex hosted Jeopardy!’s modern iteration for 36 years until his death from pancreatic cancer.

Guest hosts – 2020 to 2021, Jeopardy! tested out a series of guest hosts for week or two-week stints, including Anderson Cooper, LaVar Burton, and Aaron Rodgers.

Mike Richards – 2021, he was named host for one week before resigning amid controversy. He was the show’s executive producer at the time.

Mayim Bialik – 2021 to 2023, when Mike was announced as the show’s new host, Mayim was chosen to host tournaments and primetime specials.

Mayim and Ken Jennings – 2022 to 2023, 74-time champion Ken (the longest-winning contestant ever) joined Mayim as a guest host and they split hosting duties.

Ken Jennings – 2023 to present. Last December, Mayim announced on Instagram that she would “no longer” host Jeopardy! after a lengthy hiatus, having stood with the writer’s strike, and Ken was named sole host.

Ken now helms all editions of Jeopardy! including Celebrity Jeopardy!, the nightly show, and other primetime specials like Masters.

In a post-game clip, Adriana said she “likes to know what the category means” before she “gets into the heart of clues.”

Her tactics haven’t gone unnoticed by viewers at home.

Fans noticed that she tends to rely on getting correct answers and isn’t “aggressive with her wagering” on the Daily Doubles.

“By Double Jeopardy, it has been mostly clear that she can beat the other contestants on knowledge or the buzzer, or both. So she can hedge her bets on DDs somewhat,” one noted.

“Adriana is a sneaky ice cold player,” another added