Ashley Chan gained her fourth sport of Jeopardy! on Tuesday evening (December 17) regardless of a small wager that just about value her the victory.
The publicist from Lewisville, Texas, entered the episode as a three-day champion, having amassed $46,500 in her earlier appearances. She confronted robust competitors from Jasmine Zhou, an ASIC engineer and skilled quizzer from Woodland, California.
Chan and Zhou had been fairly evenly matched all through the sport, with Chan main with $18,800 heading into Last Jeopardy and Zhou not far behind with $15,600. Each ladies answered the ultimate clue appropriately, but it surely was Chan who secured the win by only a $300 margin.
As Chan’s streak continues, listed below are six issues it is best to know in regards to the rising fan favourite.
She Wished to be a TV Anchor
In an interview for the Hofstra College information web site, Chan revealed she “initially needed to be a TV anchor.” She as soon as hosted the student-run newscast Hofstra Immediately “and did a bunch of TV applications within the Herbert Faculty of Communication.”
“I instructed lots of people earlier than I went on Jeopardy!, ‘Oh, I really feel like I’ve a leg up on different contestants as a result of I’ve been on TV earlier than and hosted applications,’” she shared. “I additionally did debate in highschool. So, being on stage in entrance of individuals didn’t make me nervous.”
“Having expertise with hands-on information work was actually useful for me as a result of I used to be in a position to give attention to gameplay and never fear if my mic was messing up, if I used to be trying within the incorrect course, or if my outfit was OK,” she continued.
Chan graduated from Hofstra College in 2015 with a B.A. in Journalism and a B.A. in Political Science, in addition to minors in each French and European Research.
She Works in Public Relations
In accordance with Chan’s LinkedIn web page, she works as a Senior Account Government for the general public relations company Dala Communications, primarily based in Dallas, Texas, a licensed Lady-owned Enterprise Enterprise with the Nationwide Ladies’s Enterprise Certification.
As a part of her function, Chan serves as direct contact for a number of purchasers throughout a number of totally different industries, coordinates media relations between purchasers and the media, creates press releases, manages social media profiles, and oversees hiring and administration of Dala’s intern program.
She additionally runs the wedding-based web site Hepburn and Purses.
She Is Married
Ashley, whose maiden identify is Mungiguerra, and her husband, Zachary Chan, met in April 2013 throughout their freshman 12 months at Hofstra College, per The New York Occasions. They first met whereas celebrating a mutual good friend’s birthday celebration, although they didn’t begin relationship till their junior 12 months.
Only a few months into their relationship, Chan left campus for an alternate program on the College of Amsterdam. Nevertheless, each had been dedicated to creating the romance work regardless of the lengthy distance.
Issues clearly labored out, because the couple returned to Amsterdam for New 12 months’s Eve in 2018, the place Zachary proposed. Chan and Zachary tied the knot on October 16, 2021, on the Nasher Sculpture Middle in Dallas.
She Has Been Ready to Play Jeopardy! for Years
Chan has liked Jeopardy! since she was a baby, telling Hofstra Information, “I’ve discovered over time that you just both grew up in a Jeopardy! household otherwise you didn’t – and I very a lot did. My grandparents nonetheless watch each evening. I like trivia. I’ve all the time needed to be on the present, so I take the check yearly.”
She revealed she initially acquired picked to audition again in 2016, however she’d simply graduated and began a brand new job, so she couldn’t do it. Then the lengthy wait started, because it wasn’t till Might this 12 months Chan acquired an electronic mail inviting her to take a second check.
“Then, in July, I used to be invited to audition. And I began pondering, ‘Hey, that is getting actual.’ So, I auditioned in July, and the present’s producers mentioned, ‘Okay, now you’re within the contestant pool for 2 years. You would hear from us anytime between tomorrow and two years from now.’”
After pondering she was “going to be careworn for the following two years,” Chan mentioned she heard again from the producers on the finish of September telling her she’d been chosen and requested if she may very well be on the present in a month.
“I used to be like, ‘Sure. Completely. I will be there.’ So, I went to Los Angeles with my husband and two associates and filmed the present on the finish of October,” she added.
She Says the Buzzer Is the ‘Hardest’ A part of Jeopardy!
Chan defined that buzzer method “was the toughest half” of the present, saying, “It’s so rather more troublesome than it appears to be like on TV.”
“As quickly as Ken Jennings is completed studying the clue, these lights go up on both aspect of the display screen. If you happen to buzz in earlier than the lights, it locks you out for a few fifth of a second,” she instructed Hoftra. “That’s not that lengthy, but it surely’s sufficient time for another person to buzz in as soon as the lights go up. So, you must take heed to the clue, watch the lights, look ahead to it, buzz, after which hope that you just acquired it. And there are lights that come on in entrance of your podium in case you did it first, after which Ken would name on you.”
She additionally defined that every contestant will get to “rehearse the buzzer” earlier than filming begins. “You stand up. You’re on the podium. You’re enjoying with the buzzer. We did two rounds of rehearsal, which was nice, very a lot wanted,” Chan said.
She Has Excessive Reward for Ken Jennings
Talking about her expertise on the present, Chan had sort phrases for Jennings, noting, “[He] got here out beforehand, and he was so good. He was very humorous. He congratulated us on being there and mentioned, ‘You’ve performed one thing that 99% of individuals won’t ever do.’”
She continued, “And I used to be like, ‘That is so cool. That’s Ken!’ It was wild. It was a wild expertise from begin to end.”