Who is Donna Matturri? New 'Jeopardy!' winner blows Mayim Bialik away with victory over five-day champion
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: In another topsy-turvy episode of ‘Jeopardy!’, a five-day champion eventually lost his winning streak to a new contestant. In an intense Final Jeopardy round, Ben Goldstein was leading the way with $16,200 but as fate would have it, he wagered a tad too much and lost it all to Donna Matturri, who was crowned the winner at the end of the episode. It was Ben’s game all the way but Donna came back from the dead to defeat the five-day champ and stunned host Mayim Bialik, who remarked that the game so far had been extremely competitive.
Donna, however, picked up pace without the help of the hidden Daily Doubles, including three questions in the “On Broadway” category. Ben went into Final Jeopardy with $16,200 while Ron and Donna had $13,800 and $11,400, respectively, setting up the stage for a tense finale.
Donna ends Ben’s five-day winning streak
The Final Jeopardy question read, “At age 9 in 1883 she moved west, where she met Annie Pavelka, a young pioneer on whom she would later model a title character.” Donna was the only player who answered correctly with Willa Carter. She added $6,000 and was in the lead for a brief moment, taking her total to $17,400. Ron answered incorrectly with “LM Montgomery” and Ben wrote “Alcott”, wagering $11,500. He finished second and Bialik exclaimed, “Donna! Congratulations, you are our new Jeopardy! Champion!” Donna was stunned and couldn’t believe it as she held her mouth over her face.
The fans watching the show were in utter disbelief but congratulated Donna for her shocking victory. As they flocked to Reddit, one fan wrote, “GET IT GIRL!!”, forcing another to mention, "Dammit, if Ben had maintained his 5-day average, he would have only needed to win 9 more games to surpass James Holzhauer's one-day record total.” A third expressed his elation and said, “Congrats Donna on the win! Ben was cooked either way even if Donna had missed she left enough behind to still beat him,” as a fourth stated, “Sorry Ben, and hello Donna giant killer!” A fifth fan wrote, “Donna as further proof of my theory that the three professions who seem to excel most on Jeopardy! are lawyers, teachers, and librarians.”
Who is Donna Matturri?
Donna Maturri is a resident of Columbus, Ohio. She is a librarian and a contestant on Season 39 of Jeopardy who with luck on her side, ended Ben Goldstein’s five-day winning streak. She has also worked as an adult services manager and assistant director at the Upper Arlington Public Library, as well as an assistant director at the Pickerington Area Chamber of Commerce. She has a one-day winning total of $17,400 and will return to ‘Jeopardy!’ to extend her winning run on the June 26, 2023 episode of the game show.
