Last night’s episode of “Jeopardy!” appealed to viewers who were thirsting for more than just knowledge.
A contestant named Father Steve Jakubowski made his first appearance on the show on the Sept. 19 episode, and the Catholic priest quickly earned himself a number of fans.
“There’s a hot priest on Jeopardy rn send help,” one person wrote on X.
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“Hot priest on jeopardy tonight, a small win I needed,” another comment read.
One viewer joked, “This Jeopardy contestant is a PRIEST? I’m about to convert.”
Another lamented, “There is an extremely attractive Catholic priest on Jeopardy, and that’s just not fair.”
Comments continued pouring in during the episode, and after it finished airing, with several people referring to Jakubowski as “hot priest.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Jakubowski said that being on “Jeopardy!” was “a great experience.”
“Ken and all the producers and team were very kind to me with the novelty of having a Catholic priest on the show,” he explained. “I hope it gave a positive impression of my community and the Church. The show airs at 3:30 where I live in Austin, and so we had a watch party at our parish school with our students and their parents — tons of fun to share that with our parish.”
Jakubowski competed against a teacher named Jen Feldman and returning champion Chris Lindsay.
Each contestant played well, and Jakubowski went into the Final Jeopardy round in third place with $5,400. The category was “New York Movies,” and the clue read, “Frank Sinatra got upset that a photo of him caught fire in a Brooklyn pizzeria in this film.”
He guessed “The Godfather Part II” and wagered $5,301. The answer was incorrect, taking his final earnings down to $99.
“But as you know, the last shall be first, so it’s all right,” host Ken Jennings remarked, referencing a Bible verse.
Lindsay had the correct answer to the clue, “Do the Right Thing,” and his wager brought him to $10,801, but Feldman, who also had the correct answer, wagered more money, leaving her with $13,800 and making her the new champion.
In addition to Jakubowski’s appearance, viewers noted something else about his appearance: Jennings referred to him as “Father Steve.”
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Typically, Jennings, and Alex Trebek before him, always referred to a contestant by their first name alone. A fan questioned on the “Jeopardy!” Reddit page if it was “wrong to frown upon contestants being referred to by their honorifics.”
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“As a contestant, you are asked how you would like to be named on the show,” one person answered. “I would imagine that quite a few people on the show are PhDs or doctors, so it would be confusing if you had all honourifics used, IMO.”
Another remarked, “I’m a PhD, but would never want to be referred to Dr. because my job is not my identity. Being a Catholic priest is pretty much one’s identity. It’s not just some job/educational degree.”
One viewer suggested the consistent use of the “Father Steve” moniker was because of Jennings specifically, theorizing, “It felt a little like Ken was obsessed. It just seemed like he made a lot of little comments about it for the whole episode.”
