You win some, you lose some.
"Jeopardy!" viewers cannot get enough of contestant Amy Schneider who started a winning streak
that has elevated her into the top echelon of champions across the many years of the
show.
While Schneider's on-screen journey continues, she has faced some significant challenges
off-screen.
She revealed on Twitter that she was robbed right as the new year began, and soon after
that, another unfortunate situation developed.
Schneider's "Jeopardy!" winning streak may not be over yet, but it has already garnered
her some impressive stats.
Schneider is the first openly transgender contestant to rack up so many wins.
Once she had five wins under her belt, she qualified for the "Tournament of Champions."
That annual showdown involves all of the best contestants from the previous year, and Schneider
was the first openly transgender individual to qualify.
She told ABC7,
"I am so incredibly grateful.
Hopefully I can send a positive message to the nerdy trans girl who wants to be on the
show too."
As of January 6, Schneider had a 27-day winning streak, with winnings in excess of $970,000.
As iconic "Jeopardy!" winner and new host Ken Jennings noted, Schneider had 21 of her
25 games be, quote, "runaways or lock games," which he called "a very impressive stat."
Schneider has thrilled "Jeopardy!" fans with nightly Twitter threads, breaking down each
show's battle.
Unfortunately, she has recently had a couple of obstacles interfere with her plans to interact
with fans online.
On January 6, Amy Schneider shared via Twitter that she'd been ill, which came on very soon
after she revealed the details of her robbery.
She explained,
"Quick update: So, to make this week even more fun, I also got sick!"
Schneider did not reveal what type of illness that she had, but added,
"I'm feeling mostly better now, but I'm going to extend my posting break through tomorrow."
Schneider quickly tweeted again to reassure worried "Jeopardy!" fans, posting,
"For now, just know that a) I'm fine b) I fully intend to post full game threads for
every episode, and c) I'm so grateful for all the support I've received!"
Schneider received plenty of support in response, with fans gushing over how much they've loved
watching her compete.
On January 3, she Tweeted to her fans that she had lost her ID, credit cards, and phone
in a robbery, and had to spend all day replacing them.
Schneider has been a "Jeopardy" fan for as long as she can remember.
Speaking to the Daily Beast, she said that she began watching the show when Alex Trebek
began hosting back in 1984.
It was also a lifetime goal of hers to be on the long-running television game series.
She posted on Twitter,
"When I was in the closet to change for the second show, I silently screamed and jointed
my fist and jumped up and down.
It was something I'd dreamed of my whole life."
And while Schneider has definitely gotten a lot of attention for being a successful
transgender woman on "Jeopardy" along with some of the setbacks that she's had to deal
with, Schneider said that she doesn't want the media to just focus on her identity.
While it's an important part of her life, so are a lot of other things.
She told the Daily Beast,
"Being trans is an important, huge foundational part of my identity and also, not.
I'm not going on 'Jeopardy!' to be trans on 'Jeopardy!' I'm going on 'Jeopardy!' to try
to win some money."
"There's not an area in life in which we can't succeed and excel."
Schneider reminded the Daily Beast that she's not the first trans person on the show.
Fran Fried from Connecticut was on the show back in 2017, while, in 2020, Los Angeles
resident Kate Freeman was a 1-day champion.
Another "Jeopardy" winner, Jennifer Morrow, also reminded the world on Twitter that there
was a trans contestant who was a multi-game winner back in the 1990s, but she used a different
name and pronouns at the time.
For Amy Schneider, knowing that there were so many trailblazers before her is definitely
a great feeling.
She told the Daily Beast,
"Those were very important to me, the trans contestants that have been on before.
It suddenly felt a lot more uncomfortable to be on TV after I came out, but seeing them
there made me feel like it's perfectly fine.
It's funny: the producer said at some point, 'I don't even know how many trans contestants
have been on 'Jeopardy!' and I was like, 'I know.'"
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