Drew Basile earned the nickname “giant killer” after his Jeopardy! debut.
The Survivor 45 alum was tasked with playing against a 15-day champion during his first night on the show.
And Drew made it look easy as he took down Adriana Harmeyer, thwarting her chance to make the top 10 list of all-time Jeopardy! players.
Here is a breakdown of Drew’s Jeopardy! debut, where he won $23,482 for his efforts.
His lead was so big that he didn’t even attempt to add to his money total during Final Jeopardy! chance. Instead, he cracked a joke with his response.
Winning that first episode from June 19 meant television viewers would also see Drew during the June 20 episode.
How did Drew Basile do during his second Jeopardy! game?
Season 40, Episode 204 of Jeopardy! aired on June 20.
Survivor alum Drew Basile served as the defending champion and had to play against theatrical wardrobe technician Jonquil Garrick Reynolds and superior court judge Bob Longstreth.
Host Ken Jennings began the episode by announcing Drew was the first new defending champion this month after Adriana had dominated for weeks.
Drew got a quick $400 clue correct to take an early lead. Each of the three players would guess wrong on several first-round clues a short time later. Bob had a run of success, but Drew caught up before the first break.
At the first commercial break, Drew and Bob each had $1,000, and Jonquil had negative $800.
Drew had $3,600, Bob had $1,800, and Jonquil had $1,200 when the first round ended. When the show returned from commercial, Ken revealed that a scoring change dropped Bob to $600.
Did Drew defend his Jeopardy! championship?
Drew went on a run in Double Jeopardy! and secured $3,000 on the first Daily Double to land on $13,000.
Control of the board bounced around a bit until Drew found the second Daily Double. Answering that one correctly got him to $15,000 and a commanding lead.
Jonquil found success late in the second round and made it a competitive game heading into Final Jeopardy!.
Drew had $15,800, Jonquil had $10,400, and Bob had $8,600 to wager. It meant anyone could emerge as the winner.
The final category was Authors’ Wives.
Bob missed it and dropped his score to $6,398. Jonquil also missed it, and it dropped her to $1,200.
Drew also got it wrong, but he only bet $6,000. Drew finished with $9,800 and became a two-day champion.
Below is a video of how Final Jeopardy! played out.
More news from and about Survivor
Details on the new Survivor cast were leaked online. These players will debut during episodes in the fall of 2024.
The Traitors 3 also features four Survivor alums. Peacock will likely debut the new season this upcoming winter.
Previous seasons of Survivor are streaming on Paramount+. That includes the season featuring Drew Basile (Survivor 45).
Survivor is on hiatus at CBS.
All episodes of Survivor are now streaming on Paramount+. Try it FREE!
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