JEOPARDY! Masters star Mattea Roach has tearfully has opened up about the loss of her father on stage, leaving host Ken Jennings near-speechless.
Phillip Henry Roach died at age 57 of a brain aneurysm on May 2, 2023 while Mattea was "at the set of Jeopardy!," they revealed before triumphantly advancing to the finals.
The Masters competition is down to the wire with just tonight's semifinal matches remaining before Wednesday's finals.
After two weeks of can't-miss episodes, Andrew He, Matt Amodio, Mattea, and self-described game show villain James Holzhauer emerged as the top four titans.
Mattea tied in match points with Andrew tonight and advanced and Andrew was eliminated since Mattea had more correct responses.
Mattea, Matt and James will be the three finalists.
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Before the wild tiebreaker and results were revealed, Mattea opened up about their late father in a heartwrenching moment.
'HE'S WHY I'M HERE'
Ken brought up how Mattea’s most proud possession is their denim jacket from their dad- which they shared during their very first game in 2022.
Mattea replied: “It’s now on permanent loan actually.”
Mattea continued while wiping their eyes: “My dad passed away at the start of the month very suddenly. He’s a huge part of the reason why I’m here."
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"He and my mom instilled an early love of geography in me. My dad taught me all about Turner Classic Movies and old movies.
"So I wanted to in what might be my last game of the series recognize the impact he had on my life."
"And also recognize, I was actually here at the set when my dad died.
"And everyone here, my fellow contestants- I cannot ask for better support during what was the worst day of my life. Thank you to everyone,” they said.
“Everyone who made sure I could go home and be with my mom and brothers.”
The crowd clapped and Ken, 48, could barely speak- "Mattea” - he began while shaken up.
“Everyone here is so heartbroken” and Ken said "speaking as a dad," Phillip must have been “So proud to see you play, play Masters.”
He told Mattea to “Take a second” before starting the next round. “But you have a second, we'll talk about the next categories in a second."
"Oh jees. I did not expect to get teary-eyed," one fan admitted.
"As someone who also lost my dad, Mattea’s story made me cry like a little baby," stated another.
DOWN TO THE FINALS
On Monday both of semifinals matches were won in fights to the finish by James- though the second was nearly won by Mattea.
What that means is James had already advanced to the finals going into Tuesday's semis regardless of if he won.
Ken was aware as much on Tuesday and shaded: "Good luck to everyone not named James Holzhauer.”
Beloved fan-favorite Sam Buttrey and 40-time winner Amy Schneider were sadly eliminated as the two lowest-ranking players who just couldn't "Bring it" in the quarterfinals.
On Tuesday, James won once more and gained 3 match points to have nine total- Mattea gained one match point giving them 2 total.
Then, in the second bout remaining before eliminations, Mattea faced Matt and Andrew and because Matt won and Andrew placed second- things got complicated.
The leaderboard revealed question marks under Mattea and Andrew's placement- and it came down to total correct responses since both had 2 match points.
Because Mattea had more correct responses overall, they clinched the last slot in the finals and hugged.
Now, the three will duke it out in the two-part finals for 500,000 as well as a "Trebek Trophy".
Jeopardy! Masters is the brainchild of new executive producer, Michael Davies and is the first champion-based producer-picked tournament since 2020's $1M GOAT tournament.
The high-ratings throwdown is set to be annual and be a belt notch higher than the Tournament of Champions (which only features contestants from the prior season).
The special has made for much-see TV and fans can't wait for more next year.
'HORIFFIC NEWS'
Mattea, 24, shared a lengthy Twitter tribute on Tuesday starting with two throwback photos of them with their dad, one when the super-champion was growing up and one of them as adults [both seen above].
The finalist began: "In one of my contestant anecdotes on tonight’s Jeopardy Masters, I’m talking about my dad.
"I’ve done this many times on the show before, but this time I’m speaking in past tense because my dad died at the start of this month."
"I wanted to acknowledge my dad in the context of tonight’s game firstly bc he was the subject of the first ever contestant anecdote I ever told on Jeopardy!."
"My thought had been that if I only ever got 30 seconds of time to talk on the show, I wanted it to be about him."
"I also wanted to talk about my dad bc he passed away while Masters was in production.
"The first seven episodes were taped before he died, the final three were taped after. (He got to see episode four in studio so he knew it was going well-ish for me).
"I’ll say this on TV tonight but I want to express it again here - I was at the set of Jeopardy when my dad died.
"Short of being at home with family, I cannot imagine a better place to be when receiving such horrific news."
The Masters special - which premiered May 8, halted filming earlier as Andrew He's welcomed a child mid-filming, and Mattea revealed they delayed tapings a second time so they could go home.
"My fellow contestants were beyond supportive in the moment, and so many people on the production side of things moved mountains to make sure I could get home to my family and then come back later in the month to finish out the competition."
"Outside of this thread and my remarks in tonight’s episode of Masters, I have no further public comment to offer about my dad right now.
"I would ask that people respect my privacy and my family’s privacy as our grief is still very fresh."
"Everything I am doing on TV this week is for him."
Mattea's sudden loss was reported by Nova Scotia Buzz, which is a local outlet from their hometown.
Phillip Roach "died of a brain aneurysm at his home in Halifax on May 2, 2023," the outlet wrote.
Phillip's four children with his wife Patti McKinnon were "the greatest joy of his life," the outlet continued.
Mattea's father enjoyed playing Trivial Pursuit with his children, the local outlet wrote, and he was proud to have passed down his love of rock music to them.
Mattea's proud parents hosted a watch party at their home for each and every one of their original 23 wins last year.
Mattea's parents decorated their glass front door with a sign that reads: "This is Jeopardy!"
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Since their run, Mattea has begun hosting a popular Canadian podcast and now uses the pronouns they/them.
Mattea is the sixth-highest-earning Jeopardy! winner of all time with $560,983 in regular gameplay earnings from their initial run and would undoubtedly currently be making their father proud as ever as a finalist.
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