Seven-Game ‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Drew Basile Admits The Show Had To Re-Tape His Reaction To Winning

Drew Basile‘s run on Jeopardy! might have come to an end last week, but the Survivor Season 45 alum is still reflecting on his experiences — and reactions.

Basile — who after besting 15-game champ Adriana Harmeyer on June 19, went on to win six more games — opened up about his third win and his “big reaction at the end of the tiebreak” to fellow former Survivor contestants Rob Cesternino and Stephen Fishbach on Wednesday’s (July 3) episode of Rob Has A Podcast, likening the experience to “a Western standoff,” per The U.S. Sun.

“I had such a reaction that I think we had to rerecord it. I was like, ‘Let’s go!'” he recalled.

After Cesternino asked, “They were like, ‘We’re not doing that?,'” Basile teased that “Jeopardy! is so classy,” and reiterated that he “had a huge reaction.”

He also discussed being a “polarizing” character in the show’s Reddit page, deeming fans’ reactions “kind of a little muted compared to some of the hate you get from Survivor.” However, he also called the negative remarks about him “a little incoherent,” claiming that sometimes “the negative people” are “retired” and “a little bit older.”

“They’re still grappling with technology. They haven’t figured out about spellcheck, for example,” he teased. “It’s hard to be that outraged when it’s a completely incoherent message.”

First #Jeopardy tiebreaker in a long while went the way of now 3-day champ Drew Basile. He and Josh Heit tied for the lead after another easy FJ, as Basile didn't bet anything. pic.twitter.com/840YFZBZuH

— The Sport Dogtor, M.D. (@MartySande34622) June 22, 2024

While Basile, who qualified for the coveted Tournament of Champions, agreed that he was “kind of a polarizing figure on Jeopardy!,” he highlighted that many other contestants “have so much poise, and they’re all dressed up to encourage those best qualities of politeness and rectitude, and people don’t really showboat.”

“I have no issue with either of those things. I love showboating,” he shared, later adding that him having “a little bit more personality than your average winning contestant could have been a little unnerving” for some viewers. He also said that people “love to root against the winner.”

“You don’t want the winner to be some kind person who you would invite into your home, like that’s boring,” he continued. “I’ll gladly take being the heel. I like being the heel. It’s fun, it gets people going.”

As for whether Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings or Survivor host Jeff Probst is most intimidating, Basile teased that Probst “is so much more intimidating.”

“Jeff has been doing this shit for 20 years, so it’s like, you know, he has condensed himself. It’s his whole life,” he explained, in part. “And Ken is like a regular guy who just got brought on. I mean, Ken is great, but I feel like [when I’m] talking with Ken, I’m like talking with a regular guy… Jeff is well-oiled. Jeff is a machine, so it gets a little intimidating.”