From answering “What is…?” before every question to having to identify multiple items in a category, Jeopardy! player David Madden has found himself on Season 3 of The Floor and fans recognized him right away.
Madden is a former 19-day champion on Jeopardy! and holds the eighth-longest streak in show history, in which he is tied with Jason Zuffranieri. He is only behind all time greats including current host Ken Jennings, Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, James Holzhauer, Mattea Roach, Cris Pannullo, and Julia Collins.
He first competed on Jeopardy! in 2005, and had a winning streak of 19 total games, with a total of $432, 400. Madden was defeated by Victoria Groce. He then went on to compete in the 2006 Tournament of Champions, but lost the semifinal match. Madden recently returned for the 2024 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament but failed to win his match and took home an additional $10,000. This brought the contestant’s total earnings to $785,733.33.
Now, the art historian is putting his knowledge to the test once again on another game show. The Floor has 100 people who all come with expert categories. They face off against another person and whoever is left standing when the clock runs out, remains in the game until one person takes over the entire floor.
Season 3, Episode 1 premiered after The Super Bowl LIX ended on Sunday, February 9, and it promised “harder than ever categories.” Host Rob Lowe stood in front of the contestants and shouted out some categories including Marvel, Sports MVPs, and European Geography, which the crowd reacted to in a not-so-positive way.
Madden is the player who is connected to that category and he gave a sinister smile as Lowe called him out.
“You’re sending off intimidating vibes already,” he said.
“The plan is working,” David responded with a raise of his eyebrows.
“I really hope that all of you play aggressively because by the end of the night eight of you will be gone,” Lowe told the contestants.
Madden did not get picked by the randomizer or his fellow contestants to be challenged on the first episode. He was an option to be picked many times, but the contestants picked the categories around him.
“I feel very confident that people are going to leave me and my category alone for a while,” Madden said. “It’s part of my strategy.”
Many fans think that he will only be picked if the randomizer gets him because his category is tough.
Reddit users recognized Madden right away and started a conversation about it on the platform.
“David Madden is on S3 of The Floor. His category is European Geography,” the original poster wrote.
“Given that category, it seems highly unlikey that anyone will challenge him. We probably won’t see him play until the randomizer chooses him,” a fan commented.
“I watched the 1st episode and recognized him right away,” replied another user. They also recognized another contestant – Brian O’Halloran. who plays Dante in the Clerks movies.
Contestants from The Bachelor Franchise, an Olympian, and a Harlem Globetrotter are also on this season.
Watch Madden try to conquer The Floor on Fox on Wednesdays at 9pm est.
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
