Inside the private lives of Jeopardy!'s Andrew He, Sam Buttrey, and Amy Schneider after fierce tourn

Publish date: 2024-05-04

JEOPARDY! has now started airing summer reruns, and fans can relive the most heated Tournament of Champions finals ever.

Here's a look at the lives of Amy Schneider, Andrew He, and Sam Buttrey after fighting tooth and nail for $250,000 in 2022.

Ken Jennings, 49, hosted the 2022 Tournament of Champions, which was one for the books.

The annual special since 1984 is reserved for players who went on winning streaks the prior year, and after Seasons 37 and 38, a record 21 contestants qualified.

Of those 21, more players were super-champions or 10-day-plus Jeopardy! winners than any ToC prior.

Andrew only had five initial wins (losing to none other than Amy in her first of 40 victories), and Sam qualified by winning the 2021 Professor's tournament.

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So it was quite a surprise when Sam knocked out 38-time winner Matt Amodio, and Andrew swiftly trounced 23-time winner Mattea Roach, making it to the finals with Amy.

To raise the stakes, the game show expanded the finals to be longer than ever before.

They opted for a first-to-three-wins format which took six incredibly intense games out of seven maximum.

Eventually, Amy won the $250,000 purse and looked stunned, notching the much-needed third win in game six when she and Andrew were tied at two victories each.

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Sam came in third, and Andrew in second, though there was a hotly contested biblical Final Jeopardy that fans accused "robbed" Sam of a win.

Amy made history as the first transgender tournament winner.

The finals may have been one of the most watchable weeks of Jeopardy! ever - it's no wonder all three returned for May's Masters.

ANDREW HAS A SON & HANGS WITH MATTEA

Andrew revealed during Jeopardy! Masters that he welcomed a baby son, Everett, with his wife, Sarah.

Ken asked the San Francisco, California-based software developer about the new addition to his family, who arrived mid-way through the subsequent special.

Andrew, near-tears, announced: "I have a newborn son. Thanks to just everyone in the world, I guess, but especially the Jeopardy crew.

"I had the double blessing of going from being here on the stage to within 24 hours going with my partner and welcoming the arrival of our son.

"I just want to say to Sarah, I love you so much. This is for you and I wouldn't be anywhere near here if not for you so I’m going to hope to bring something nice back for you and baby Everett."

Andrew won $100,000 as the Tournament of Champions runner-up, and $75,000 as fourth place in Masters, bringing his total earnings to $259,365.

AMY'S WIFE RUSHES STAGE & SURPRISE GIFT

Amy, 42, and Genevieve Davis, 25, tied the knot in a small private ceremony on May 9, 2022 at a courthouse in California.

Amy shared the huge news on September on Instagram and was still a starry-eyed newlywed when she won.

Amy posted: "We will still be having a traditional wedding and reception next summer, but our lives have been much too busy this year to get very far in planning it, and we couldn't wait that long to proclaim our love and commitment to each other."

Amy concluded: "Thank you, everyone, for your support!"

Jeopardy!'s official Instagram commented: "Love it!"

Amy's wife, Genevieve, rushed on stage after Amy's ToC win, and they sweetly embraced.

Amy won more than just the support of her wife and $250,000, however.

The star was also gifted a custom ToC belt, made by each prior winner and passed down to the next winner.

Amy wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: "Another thing that happened shortly after [winning the Tournament of Champions].

"Sam Kavanaugh [last year's winner] came up to me, holding a box.

"I had no idea what he was giving me, although I should have!

"See, apparently [2017 winner] Buzzy Cohen felt that the Tournament of Champions winner should have a championship belt...

 "So, he gave one to James, James had given one to Sam, and now Sam was giving one to me!"

Fans may remember James wearing his ToC belt during an episode of Jeopardy! Masters and "hitting" Andrew He with it.

BOOKED AND BUSY

Amy also wrote a book, In the Form of a Question: The Joys and Rewards of a Curious Life, which is out October 3.

She recently appeared on the official podcast Inside Jeopardy! to discuss the tell-all and its intense details.

She said: “I worried that seeing just the good in my life and seeing just the parts that are easiest to connect to might give people the impression... that I could be used as an excuse to write other trans people off.

“So I wanted to talk about the fact that I have had messiness in my life.

“I, like many trans people, have done things with drug use; I’ve had a checkered sexual history and all these sorts of things.

"I wanted to show that none of that is incompatible with the Jeopardy! the champion that you’ve seen, and so none of that is a reason to write anybody off.”

Amy's $250,000 win and $75,000 from Masters earned her $1.62million, the fifth highest winnings on Jeopardy! ever.

SAM BECOMES THE FAN-FAVORITE

Despite placing third in the finals, Sam, 63, won over hoards of fans for his huge personality and hilarious stage presence.

He used an on-stage anecdote to reveal that he's a SoundCloud beatmaker and makes parody songs as a side project.

Speaking of comedic musicians, Sam also acknowledged on stage that he is aware he's a dead ringer for Steve Martin.

During the tournament, Sam's signature catchphrase was also born.

He began exclaiming, "Bring it!" when selecting the last clue on the board - which proved hilarious since the remaining question is usually the least desirable.

"Bring it!" caught on, and contestants have continued using it ever since as a nod to him.

Sam returned for a third stint in the first annual Jeopardy! Masters tournament in May.

While Sam didn't notch a single win, he did come away with even more fans and a winning friendship.

He was eliminated by Matt Amodio after quite the opposite happened during the ToC, and they shared a huge hug.

Matt called Sam the "dearest friend I've made in all of Jeopardy!"

The dynamic Daily Double duo has since kept the friendship strong and in June, reunited at a brewery, laughing it up and posing together.

Sam also went viral after Masters aired for an eerie story he told on stage about turning down an invite to a Titanic wreckage tour.

“I have a friend who operates a company that will take you out to the wreck of the Titanic,” Sam told host Ken during Masters in a TikTok clip viewed nearly 1.6 million times.

The U.S. Sun reached out to Sam, who had “no comment” about whether the trip he nearly went on was one of the successful ones on the since-imploded vessel Titan in 2021 or 2022.

Sam's $50,000 from the ToC, $50,000 from Masters and $100,000 from the 2021 Professor's Tournament bring his earnings to $200,000.

He's also one of the most popular Jeopardy! players around which doesn't have a price tag.

MASTERFUL FRIENDSHIP

Sam, Amy, and Andrew wound up, ironically, in the bottom three when they all returned for May's Masters.

But there were no hard feelings on the board about underperforming or the ToC as the trio sat together in the audience after being knocked out.

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They looked so happy to cheer on their fellow Masters from the stands.

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