Amy Schneider’s Streak On “Jeopardy” Is Over But She’s Most Proud Of Her Transgender Representation

Amy Schneider will probably never forget Bangladesh for the rest of her life.

The nation of more than 164 million people was the answer that finally stumped the Jeopardy champion on Wednesday night’s show. (The clue? “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an ‘H,’ it’s also one of the 10 most populous.”)

After an incredible 40-day streak, Schneider’s tenure as returning champion came to an end, defeated in that last category by Rhone Talsma. The Chicago librarian correctly guessed the South Asian country and was able to leapfrog Schneider’s tally thanks to an earlier correct “true Daily Double” answer that had helped him catch up.

“I was worried about you all day,” Schneider told Talsma after the episode, which was originally taped on Nov. 9.

“This doesn't feel real,” a shocked Talsma responded.

Schneider, 43, admitted to the New York Times that after she left the set she briefly cried in a bathroom, but then collected herself before heading out. “It wasn’t just a feeling of sadness, there was a sense of relief,” she added. “It was so exhausting.”

But don’t feel too bad for the Oakland software engineer: She left Jeopardy with $1,382,800 in total winnings.

Schneider’s run as champion was second only to Ken Jennings, who won 74 consecutive games in 2004 and is currently serving as a fill-in host on the show, following the death of Alex Trebek.

“Of all the Jeopardy! greats, I've never seen anyone that played the game with the kind of unflappable ease that Amy Schneider always seemed to have,” Jennings wrote on Twitter after the episode. “I'm dazzled by her talent, of course, but also by how she was always so authentically and straightforwardly herself as her streak aired. What a champ!”

According to statistics provided by the show, Schneider guessed the correct response 95% of the time she hit the buzzer first. (Her Daily Doubles were a touch lower at 87%, while her correct answers in Final Jeopardy, the section of the show that was ultimately her downfall, came in at 68%).

Often dressed in a set of pearls that became something of a signature, Schneider's game style was confident but straightforward, working her way up through categories one a time (especially her favorites of pop culture and sport) in a measured way, rather than jumping all over the board in search of Daily Doubles or starting with the higher sums first.

Her jaw-dropping streak, stunningly high final scores, and calm-under-pressure demeanor made her a fan favorite.

“Now, and for the rest of my life, I will forever be associated with the events of the last few months, and so it seems fair to say that my Jeopardy! run will never truly end,” she said in a statement released after the show aired on Wednesday.

A fan of Jeopardy since childhood, Schneider first auditioned for the show 15 years ago, before finally being selected for the candidate pool in 2020. She admitted to being anxious before her first taping on Sept. 26, believing she could be heading home after just one game. “I’d tried my best to prepare myself for that, but deep down I was scared,” she said. “When would my Jeopardy! run end? The answer might be ‘tomorrow.’ But, of course, it wasn’t.”

Schneider will return to Jeopardy in the fall for the show’s tournament of champions, where she will face off against Matt Amodio, whose 38-game streak earlier this season she surpassed.

While her winnings and fame have been nice, Schneider said her biggest reward has come from the celebration of her identity as a transgender woman. She said she’d been terrified to appear on air at first, believing she’d be ridiculed by the masses for her appearance.

“I always believed that most people would see me as trans people have so often been seen: a freak, a pervert, a man in a dress, a liar, mentally ill,” she said. “And as the days counted down to my episodes airing, I braced myself for the rejection I was sure would come. And then…it just didn’t.”

While there were isolated bigots online (whom she deftly deflected with a viral tweet posted on New Year’s Eve that was dripping with sarcasm), Schneider said she felt proud to have helped the cause of trans media representation. She told the New York Times she purposefully opted not to use a more altered feminine voice while playing, conscious it could slow her down, but also because she wanted to set an example for others. “Trans women watching can see me with my voice as it is and see me being OK with it,” she said.

Schneider is set to receive a special award from GLAAD, the LGBTQ media group. GLAAD director of transgender representation Nick Adams said Schneider’s run allowed families across the country to dazzle at a highly intelligent person who also happens to be transgender. "Her visibility has been a bright spot, allowing millions of people to root for her success and start conversations about being transgender at a time when laws and bills proposed in states like Arizona, Iowa, Indiana, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Amy’s native state of Ohio, are targeting transgender Americans for discrimination," Adams said in a statement provided to BuzzFeed News.

Schneider said her success and acceptance by fans has her feeling, perhaps for the first time in her life, that there is nothing wrong with her identity. “I knew that I was taking on a burden of representation,” she said, “and I will always and forever be proud to say that I’ve done my little part to ease the path for future generations of trans people to live free, open, and happy lives, and that feeling is worth more to me than any financial gain could ever be.”