Who is the 'Jeopardy!' champ for September 18, 2023? Deanna Bolio becomes first finalist of Second Chance Tournament
CULVER CITY, CALIFORNIA: 'Jeopardy!' is back again this week with a new set of contestants competing for Second Chance.
On the September 18 episode, the game show crowned a new champ and one of the finalists for the week - Deanna Bolio.
She faced digital journalist Matt Walks from Montana and school teacher Elliott Goodman.
Bolio will now move forward to the week's finals that will be held on September 21 and 22 against the champs of the upcoming two episodes.
Who is Deanna Bolio?
According to her 'Jeopardy!' contestant profile, Bolio is "a community outreach supervisor from Campbell, California."
She is currently employed at Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and has been working there for over six years now.
Before this, Bolio worked in the communications department of multiple reputed organizations as shown on her LinkedIn profile.
Although she went on to pursue marketing as her career focus, Bolio first kicked off her higher graduation by acquiring a Bachelor's degree in Science with a major in Journalism.
She then switched sides and got her MBA from Santa Clara University with a focus on Marketing Management.
The Second Chance champ's first 'Jeopardy!' appearance was in November 2020 when she had to face Andy Wood's winning streak.
She stood third in the episode but her impressive performance got her qualified for another chance on the game show.
How did Deanna Bolio become the 'Jeopardy!' champ?
Bolio was in good form throughout her comeback on the Alex Trebek stage.
She had more than double the money score as the contestants moved into Final Jeopardy with her leading with $19,600.
Bolio was unbeatable unless one of the other contestants dared to make a big wager.
She had luck on her side as only Walks was able to correctly answer Ernst Hemingway but did not end up making a big wager.
While she missed out on making it big by incorrectly answering Mark Twain, her small wager landed her the position to appear in the finals with a total of $18,674.
Walks received $3,000 for being the runner-up while Goodman received $2,000.