‘Jeopardy!’: Is Drew Basile the Most Polarizing Player Ever?

Survivor alum Drew Basile continues to dominate the Alex Trebek Stage as he became a six-day Jeopardy! champion on Wednesday night (June 26), but his gameplay style and emotional reactions are dividing fan reaction.

After ending the 15-game streak of Adriana Harmeyer last week, Basile has started to rack up an impressive run of his own, clinching his sixth win in a row on Wednesday. However, some viewers think he is “arrogant” and doesn’t show enough humility, especially when it comes to congratulating his opponents.

“There’s a difference between healthy self-confidence and egocentrism. He lost me when didn’t even shake the hand of the man with whom he tied in Final. An air of real narcissism,” wrote one commenter on the Jeopardy! Instagram page.

“A sore winner,” said another, referencing how Basile often pumps his first or claps for himself when he gets an answer right or wins an episode.

“He is so full of himself. You don’t clap for yourself and make it look like your padding [sic] yourself on the back every time he wins,” added another.

 

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Basile will surely take the criticism in his stride, as he faced similar comments last year when he competed on Survivor 45. During his time on the long-running CBS reality series, Basile was part of the dominant Reba 4 alliance, which controlled most of the game. His overconfidence led to him being blindsided by his own allies when they voted him out at the final six.

However, not everyone is a Basile hater, as some Jeopardy! fans jumped to his defense.

“Maybe it’s the Survivor fan in me, but I find Drew absolutely fantastic to watch on my screen,” wrote one viewer on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum. “He’s young, excited, energetic, and should absolutely celebrate winning a life changing amount of money and doing fantastic on a game show.”

“Absolutely! I’m a big fan of Drew,” replied one commenter. “Him getting excited or showing emotion just adds to the excitement of the game. Jeopardy is a competition after all, it’s fun to see people show some excitement and you see how invested they are”

 

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“I like him. I’m usually not someone who likes over- excited, but I think he’s like nerd next door where his emotions are genuine and of a competitive nature,” added another.

Another fan addressed Basile’s over-enthusiastic celebrations, explaining, “It’s like the same mentality traditionalists have regarding the bat flip in baseball or Tiger’s fist pump in golf. If you do more than Adriana’s slight head nod, when she would get her responses correct, you are a maniac and poor sport. Drew’s just a typical nerd, maybe not as self aware as he should be, but certainly not deserving of hate.”

Still, others weren’t convinced, with one fan writing, “I’m in the opposite camp. I find his mannerisms out-of-step with Jeopardy‘s usual buttoned-downed form of sportsmanship. He first came across as a not-likeable frat-boy type with a bit of good luck.”

Another added, “I truly respect his knowledge and competitiveness. That said, he’s one of the first contestants from the age of social media, and he really acts like it. The irrationality of the rage I feel when he squints then looks around, right to left, at no-one and nothing in particular, in a really affected Instagram pose manner – I don’t know where that rage comes from but it is real.”

Fortunately for Basile, he has the backing of his fellow Survivor stars, including host Jeff Probst. Many former Survivor castaways jumped in the Jeopardy! Instagram comments to congratulate Basile on his success.

“WOOHOOO!!!!!! I am so proud of you @drewbasile45 Let’s gooooo!!!! My @survivorcbs Final 6 bestie for life!!!” wrote Survivor 44 contestant Jaime Lynn Ruiz.

Meanwhile, Basile’s fellow Survivor 45 castaway Katurah Topps wrote, “Wow, i never realized while playing #Survivor that the tall guy who would wake up in the middle of the night offering to solve math problems would end up in the jeopardy TOC!”

“THAT’S MY CHAMP RIGHT THERE,” added Survivor 45 contestant Brando Meyer.

Tune into Jeopardy! tonight to see if Basile can keep his streak going.

What do you think of Basile? Are you a fan? Let us know in the comments below.

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