This Jeopardy! champion is looking to normalize cancer recovery with her run on the quiz show. Who is ... Christine Whelchel?
Whelchel, a piano teacher and church organist from Tennessee, won her fourth game of Jeopardy! on the show's latest episode, but this time, she did so without the wig she was wearing in previous games. During the player interview segment, Whelchel explained her decision to ditch it.
"I decided that I didn't need to hide behind a wig anymore, and I wanted to normalize what cancer recovery looks like," she said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In her first game, Whelchel revealed she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March 2021. One of the first things she did after receiving her diagnosis, she said, was to take the online test to get on Jeopardy! — and she auditioned to be on the show the night before undergoing surgery in May. "I'm cancer-free as of right now," she said.
With her victory in Monday's episode of Jeopardy!, Whelchel's winnings now total $73,602. She very nearly missed out on becoming a Jeopardy! champion at all, though. Her first game ended in a close call after she and the returning champion tied — the result of her accidentally wagering $1 less than she meant to — only for Whelchel to pull out the victory after a tiebreaker question. Host Ken Jennings triumphantly declared her "cancer-free and $34,000 richer!"
After she explained her decision to go without her wig on Monday, Jennings congratulated Whelchel "on your recovery and your success on Jeopardy! so far," while Jeopardy!'s official Twitter account praised her as a "strong Jeopardy! player and an even stronger person."
-
Is the ceasefire in Gaza really working?Today's Big Question Neither Israel and Hamas has an interest in a full return to hostilities but ‘brutally simple arithmetic’ in region may scupper peace plan long-term
-
Are boomers the real phone addicts?In The Spotlight There’s an ‘explosion in screentime’ among older people – and they’re more vulnerable to misinformation
-
West End Girl: a ‘tremendously touching’ break-up albumThe Week Recommends Lily Allen’s unfiltered new work is ‘littered with relatable moments’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's viewSpeed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talkSpeed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
