Jeopardy! champs who sat in a chair on show, including Grant DeYoung and Troy Meyer – and more secret rules revealed

WHEN Jeopardy! champion Grant DeYoung used a chair during his recent four-day run, viewers stood up and noticed.

However, the Arizona grocery clerk’s request to sit while competing has been granted before, and Jeopardy! producers stress there is nothing against asking for a seat.

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Host Ken Jennings and Jeopardy! producers make accommodations for playersCredit: Jeopardy!

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Grant DeYoung requested to sit downCredit: Jeopardy!
During his time on the show, Grant won four contests and took home $81,203.

He also had fans clamoring about how he competed sitting in a chair instead of standing.

Grant sat in a black swivel chair with silver armrests and full back support, adjusted to the same height as his standing opponents.

After facing curious questions from fans, Grant took it upon himself to share why he was sitting on Reddit.

He explained that he has arthritis, and producers gave him a chair so he could play at his best.

“They give it if you ask,” he wrote. “I have some back arthritis that makes standing still for that long very difficult.”

And he’s not the first one to request an accommodation due to injury or disability.

“I wouldn’t expect everyone who sits for Jeopardy! to disclose their reason for needing one, but I don’t mind saying mine,” Grant added.

HAVE A SEAT

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Troy Meyer took advantage of the opportunity as wellCredit: NBC
While contestants typically stand throughout the game show, fans may recall 2024 Tournament of Champions finalist Troy Meyer sitting for his games.

Jeopardy! champ Victoria Groce beats James Holzhauer in shock Masters defeat as fans rave ‘his reign of terror is over!’
It’s a rarely-used accommodation, but Jeopardy! bosses have previously explained that the choice is given to everyone.

“We would never make people stand, and you’ll see in the coming weeks that we had a contestant who did choose to sit,” the higher-ups explained.

Referring to Troy, they said, “After their performance, they felt like that may be a better opportunity for them.

“We are not saying no you have to stand and play, we want you to play at your very best.

“Sitting down is absolutely an option.”

Jeopardy! Universe

Jeopardy! first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here are all of those

Jeopardy! – (primetime) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7pm

Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament

Celebrity Jeopardy! – 1992 to present, has celebrities comepete against each other to raise money for chairty

Jeopardy! Masters – 2023 to present, features six notable recent Jeopardy! champions competing against each other

Jeopardy! National College Championship – 2022 to present, undergraduates from 36 colleges and universities across America compete to win $100,000

Other versions of Jeopardy! have fizzled out throughout the years

Producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss reiterated that philosophy when she addressed the situation on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast.

“This is something that we always offer to contestants,” Sarah shared.

“Please know that any contestant is given the opportunity to have a chair at any point.”

“We don’t ask why; it’s not our business,” she added. “If you want a chair, we’ll give it to you.”

CHAIR-WOMAN OF THE BOARD

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Amy Schneider recently sat when she felt dizzy while competingCredit: ABC
One of the show’s all-time champs, Amy Schneider, recently took advantage of the chair offer during the Jeopardy! Masters tournament.

The 44-year-old revealed she wasn’t feeling well during the semifinals, so the producer brought out a chair.

“It’s a fact that I wasn’t feeling well on the day we taped the semifinals,” she said on X, before explaining that, “they had a chair out for me because I was experiencing some dizziness and wasn’t sure I could stand for a whole episode.”

“But I want to be crystal clear that that’s *not* why I lost,” she made sure to clarify.

Amy was eliminated in the semi-finals of the recently completed prime-time event.

She said that while she thinks her health issues affected her performance on the game show, she said she didn’t think the other players needed to be at their peak to beat her, and that was the difference between them.

Amy added that it was highly possible the other contestants also had outside circumstances affecting their play yet still played better than her.

“Whether or not my outside circumstance was the ‘most’ damaging is both unknowable, and irrelevant,” she tweeted. “I just lost, and that’s ok.”

This year’s Masters title went to Victoria Groce.

BLIND AMBITION

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Eddie Timanus won several games while competing blindCredit: Youtube/jeopardy
Jeopardy! has made other contestant accommodations, without affecting gameplay.

Eddie Timanus was the first player to compete on the show blind when he appeared in October 1999.

There were a few changes made to aid the professional sports reporter.

Eddie was given a special card with the category names printed in Braille before each round.

He was also allowed to use a Braille keyboard for Final Jeopardy!

And Eddie actually had a hand in changing the flow of the game.

Beginning with his appearances, contestants started out the show already at their podiums, instead of the old practice of walking up to them as they were being introduced.

Eddie would eventually go on a five-day winning streak and would return for different champion iterations of the show for years to come.