It’s nerve-wracking to be on TV, not only in front of the greatest Jeopardy! player of all time, but also a super champion. Contestant Jonathan Migliori revealed that he messed up his interview with Ken Jennings and thought he was being quizzed by him.
Migliori, from Providence, Rhode Island, played against super champion Caleb Groen, from Thousand Oaks, California, and Lea James, from Boston, Massachusetts, on July 16. Groen, a law and policy student, had already won over $300,000 and 10 games. He went on to win this game, making it win number 11.
During the interview portion of the game show, Migliori was up first. “A Latin teacher joins us!” Jennings said. “And that’s a name we would find, besides on your podium here, where?”
“You’d find it on a crystal decanter in a thousand-year-old castle,” the contestant said. “I went to grad school in Durham, England, in Durham Castle. My student government job was steward of the middle common room.”
“You’ve been a steward?” Jennings asked.
“I have indeed,” Migliori responded. “I was in charge of parties, wine and cheese nights, pork dinners, etc. At the end of my term, my name was engraved, along with all of the other former bearers, on this crystal decanter.”
“Very exciting for a Latin teacher. You’re part of history at Durham Castle,” Jennings said.
However, the interaction wasn’t as smooth as fans saw on TV. Migliori revealed on Reddit that he didn’t know what Jennings was talking about and they had to refilm the interview.
“On the note of nerves, I completely flubbed the interview and had to reshoot it. When Ken first asked me where else one would find my name, I was like ‘Uhhhhh…an Italian dictionary?’ ‘And where else?’ *long pause* ‘I don’t know!,’” he wrote.
“Then he asked if they needed to pick a different anecdote or better cue for me, and I said, ‘Oh my goodness, I’m sorry, Ken, I thought you were quizzing me on something!’ I also forgot to mention my plans to steal that decanter if I ever go back.”
At least Migliori wouldn’t be back to make another mistake since he lost.
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