‘Jeopardy!’ Contestants Reveal What the Day of Show is Really Like

Once Jeopardy! contestants get The Call to appear on the quiz show, and their at-home preparation begins with everything from practice buzzers to flashcard cramming. These techniques are well-established, but nothing prepares them for the nerves of go-time.

On Friday (November 15), more than a dozen recent contestants discussed the surprising toll of the 24 hours leading up to their tape day and the wild ways they coped before stepping under the lights. Their candid recollections of tape-day rituals-gone-haywire were something else. As it turns out, the night before and day of expectations are often far from reality.

A fan introduced the topic on Reddit, asking, “Former contestants, how did you prepare for the day of your episode?” The fan elaborated, “Did you purposely eat a certain meal? Caffeine? …….Drugs?”

One person who responded was two-day champ Joey DeSena from earlier this week, who shared he relied on energy bars and advised to bring “pain-killers.”

“First, try to get as much sleep as possible,” he wrote. “Could be difficult coming from the east coast with the time change and being amped up the night before. But do whatever usually works for you to settle into a good night’s rest. Then for me, high protein energy bars in the morning and in your bag you bring to keep your energy up (could be hard to have an appetite, though).

“For caffeine, I did a small amount at wakeup (half cup of coffee), a ‘normal’ amount around 9:30am (cup of coffee or 5 hour energy), and another ‘normal amount’ right before breaking for lunch, which is probably going to be around 2pm. I know you’re joking about drugs – I think – but actually, be sure to keep some pain killers on you in case a headache or other body pain creeps in. You don’t want to be distracted while trying to remember if Martina Navratilova retired in the 21st century or not.”

Zoe Grobman, who competed earlier this month and will return for Second Chance, replied, “This. I brought Tylenol and Aleve with me and ended up needing it when a migraine came on. They specifically mention to players to bring any OTC medication you might need.”

Recent Five-day champ Greg Jolin shared he had a terrible night’s sleep, “Because of jet lag I was asleep at 8 PM the night before (despite trying to stay up), and I woke up at 3 AM. So…I did my daily flash cards. At the studio, I was hoping to get selected early before tiredness hit me, and I didn’t want to caffeinate for fear of suddenly needing to use the bathroom on stage. Once I wasn’t selected for the first three games and I knew the lunch break was coming, I let myself have a coffee since I would have plenty of time to use the bathroom.”

Rachel Marcus, who also competed this month, wrote, “I was so nervous I could barely eat. And of course I couldn’t sleep the night before. Drank a lot of coffee in the contestant prep room. I have beta blockers prescribed for presentations etc, but I didn’t end up needing them. I first went on at the end of the day (Friday show) and I was so tired I was near delirious. Once I got up on stage I think adrenaline woke me up. And I think the exhaustion pretty much erased my nerves by that point. To prep I quit taking the edibles I usually take at night to sleep…so less drugs. Would recommend anyone who partakes to cut that out for at least a week before because it really does make you a little dumber. Lol.”

Four-day champ Grant DeYoung from the spring wrote, “Did you purposely eat a certain meal? Light breakfast with lots of protein. Caffeine? I went on a caffeine fast for ~2 weeks before taping and then downed a couple of energy drinks. I’m not sure it was a good idea overall…….Drugs? No further comment beyond the above.”

Contestant Jesse Chin shared he made a dangerous dietary mistake, “I ate pot roast for lunch my first day. DONT DO THAT. I was so sleepy.”

Another contestant candidly shared, “2 black coffees and 10mg adderall.” The consensus seemed to be: eat light, sleep as much as possible, expect the unexpected. Others were happy to say that they did get a good night’s sleep.

“I slept surprisingly well in the hotel the night before,” one more wrote. “I could not wind down and go to sleep the night after the taping though!”

What would your tape-day ritual be? And do you think it would pan out once the nerves take hold? Let us know in the comments section below!

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