'Jeopardy!' host Ken Jennings reveals reality behind his relationship with on-screen rival James Holzhauer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: 'Jeopardy!' host Ken Jennings recently opened up about his well-known rivalry with one of the biggest winners of the game show besides himself: James Holzhauer.
The host joined CNN host Chris Wallace on his HBO Max talk show 'Who's Talking To Chris Wallace'. He was asked to address the big question that has caused friendly fan wars among viewers of 'Jeopardy!' ever since his major win back in 2019.
Ken Jennings reveals his friendship with James Holzhauer
Wallace asked the game show host about his rivalry with Holzhauer, saying, "It seems like there’s a little bit of an edge there."
However, Jennings broke the act and revealed that their rivalry was limited to the cameras.
"The thing you have to understand about James is he decided at one point in preparing for the show that Jeopardy needed a villain, I think," Jennings said.
Continuing to explain Holzhauer's thought process, he added, "He’s a pro wrestling fan. And he understands that it makes a game exciting when the audience has a rooting interest."
Jennings further added that in real life, they got along "great" while their rivalry continued on screen.
"He puts on this persona as an over-the-top, larger-than-life villain. I think in real life we get along great. So for TV, we are mortal Jeopardy enemies, and he likes playing that up," he said.
Ken Jennings sings praises of James Holzhuer for changing 'Jeopardy!'
When asked about his own gaming strategy, especially when it comes to Daily Doubles and the Final Jeopardy round, Jennings couldn't help but acknowledge Holzhauer's contributions to permanently changing the game.
"This is the thing that James Holzhauer really changed about the game you know," Jennings shared, "He brought a sports gambler sense of analytics."
"He had run the numbers and realized that Daily Doubles historically have like a very high completion percentage like 80% conversion on Daily Doubles. Whereas Final Jeopardy is much harder, 50%," he continued.
He then explained, "So, what you want to do is get your chips on the table for those Daily Doubles, find them at all costs, and make big wagers then, so the game is put away later."
