Mattea Roach: 5 Things We Know About the ‘Jeopardy!’ Super Champ

Who is Mattea Roach?

What is a record-making Jeopardy! super champ?

Fans of the long-running television game series Jeopardy! have been meeting their latest super-champ episode after episode. With a penchant for chatter and gesticulations, Roach is making her impact on screens night after night. At 23 years old, she's already in the list of Jeopardy! records as she is eighth on the all-time consecutive games list and 10th on the all-time highest non-tournament cash winnings list. In addition, she's secured herself a slot in the Tournament of Champions.

Read on for a few things we've learned about Roach.

1. She's a Proud Lesbian

While it hasn't come up on the series, the first thing in Roach's Twitter bio is her sexuality. "Lesbian," it says simply. It makes her the second sapphic contestant to see big success on the series recently as Amy Schneider went down in the history books shortly before getting engaged to her girlfriend Genevieve.

Fun fact: On April 15, 2022, Roach faced off against Katie Teller, another lesbian, on Jeopardy!. Roach won. Roach may have to face off against Schneider in the Tournament of Champions.

2. She's a History-Making Canadian

"So my family thought it was very important that I say that I'm from Halifax," she said in an episode. "I was there for the first six years of my life and I also went to school there, but I've also lived in Calgary for a couple of years when I was younger and Moncton in New Brunswick, which is where I learned French. So I've been a little bit all over."

In her time on the show, Roach has won the most consecutive games of any Canadian to ever appear. Roach currently lives in Toronto.

3. She Has Two Talking Heads Tattoos

"I really like the Talking Heads," she said. "So I have, under both of my knees: On one leg I have 'same as it ever was' and on the other leg I have 'how did I get here?' both from 'Once in a Lifetime.'"

4. She's Able to Pay Off All of Her Student Loans

On the April 4 episode, Roach made a big announcement.

"My student loan is paid off," she said. "That's it, that's it." With her Final Jeopardy! answer she was sitting at $32,001.

"I'm hoping to go back to school so there will be more," she continued. "But now I start from zero."

5. She Was Raised at a Catholic School

"You can take the girl out of the Catholic school but you can't take the Catholic school out of the girl," Roach once said.

When it was noticed that before episodes she wordlessly repeats something to herself, the super champ revealed that she was reciting Hail Marys.