Jeopardy! General Discussion

It has come to the Jeopardy! Producers' attention that Jeff Kirby, who appeared on Jeopardy! on Monday, October 12, had previously appeared on the show.

As is stated in the eligibility requirements (listed at Jeopardy.com), "You are not eligible to be a contestant on Jeopardy! if you have appeared on any version of the show with Alex Trebek, except at the Jeopardy! Producers' express invitation." This is a long-standing rule, and it remains in place. Jeopardy! has a system to make sure that people who appear on the show have not previously done so. It has worked well for 26 seasons; however, clearly, that system failed to detect that Mr. Kirby had appeared on the show in 1999.

In our contestant booking and verification process, we relied on information provided to us by Mr. Kirby. He did not disclose that he had previously been on Jeopardy!. His having been on the show before made Mr. Kirby ineligible as a contestant and therefore ineligible to receive any prizes from the show.

Because Mr. Kirby came in third in the competition, this decision does not affect either of his opponents nor their winnings.

Thank you to our watchful viewers for bringing this to our attention.

The Jeopardy! Producers