Jeopardy! super-champ Troy Meyer first revealed his mother, Cheryl, had passed away on his original appearance on the show in January 2023, and he paid tribute to her again on Wednesday’s (March 13) episode of Tournament of Champions.
The music executive from Tampa, Florida, rocked up to Wednesday’s game wearing a very special cardigan, one that held deep sentimental value to the professional quizzer.
“Tell us about the sweater; that is a choice,” host Ken Jennings said of the black and white patterned cardigan.
“Thanks for the compliment,” Meyer replied with a laugh. “So, my late mother worked at Saks Fifth Avenue in Cleveland for a long time. And, they probably wouldn’t want me to talk about this on TV, [but] one thing the salespeople would do is hide stuff in their drawers until it went on sale.”
An emotional Meyer continued, “And so my mom hid this for six months for me. My mom hooked me up with a lot of stuff throughout the years. I wear this sweater in tribute to her today.”
Jeopardy, Inc!
Meyer did his mom proud on Wednesday’s game, which he won in dominant fashion. After finishing last in the first finals game against fan favorite Ben Chan and the divisive Yogesh Raut, Meyer returned to the Alex Trebek Stage with a vengeance.
In a bold play, he wagered his entire $21,800 on the game’s last Daily Double, giving him a massive, episode-winning total of $46,800. As Jennings highlighted, Meyer secured the highest score of the entire Tournament of Champions so far going into Final Jeopardy.
During his first appearance, in which he won six games for a grand total of $214,802 + $1,000, Meyers spoke fondly of his late mother. In his first episode, he told Jennings his mom had recently passed away and how they “shared a big love” of watching Jeopardy! together.
According to an interview with WTSP, Cheryl raised Meyer as a single mom and always supported his passion for trivia. Meyer went on to become a pro-quizzer; he is a four-time winner of Learned League, the niche online trivia club Jennings used to be a part of, and finished as runner-up in the 2020 World Quizzing Championships.
“It was emotional up there without her being there,” Meyer told WTSP after his first stint on the show, which he said he dedicated to his mom.
While Meyer doesn’t have his mother there to see him compete, he does have support from his wife, Genevieve, whom he met due to the show.
Troy’s wife Genevieve with Alex Trebek; Jeopardy, Inc
As he previously mentioned on the show, Meyer met Genevieve online on a Jeopardy! practice website before she appeared as a contestant in 2009. They developed a close bond online, though Meyer only got to see what she looked like once her episode aired.
“I thought she was 55 years old,” Meyer said in a New York Times feature on their 2010 wedding announcement. After finally meeting in person, they hit it off and eventually married and had a son together.
“Within the first 24 hours we just wanted to be together,” Genevieve told the New York Times.
The Tournament of Champions continues to tonight, Thursday, March 14, as Meyer, Chan, and Raut battle it out for the $250,000 grand prize and a spot on Jeopardy! Masters.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
