Survivor 45's Drew Basile ends Jeopardy run: See his stats for every game

Survivor 45's Drew Basile turned his competitive spirit toward another massive show.

The reality star became the first-ever Survivor alum to appear on Jeopardy — and he performed even better on the trivia show than he did on the island. Basile, who called himself one of the smartest people to ever appear on Survivor, won seven games in a row and collected $129,601 in winnings, and expects to be back for the Tournament of Champions once season 40 ends.

Basile had all the right ideas and moves to mount an impressive winning streak on Jeopardy. He’s currently pursuing a master’s degree in English Literature at the University of Oxford in England, he’s won trivia competitions in the past, and his Survivor experience means he knows how to play on camera. Here’s how Survivor star Drew Basile fared on his eight episodes of Jeopardy.

Game 1 — June 19, 2024

Basile defeated Adriana Harmeyer — a 15-time winner who works as an archivist at Purdue University who accrued almost $350,000 on the show — and Tekla Sauter to take home $23,482 on his first Jeopardy night.

The contestant introduced himself during his brief interview with host Ken Jennings.

“It’s not my first rodeo, Ken,” Basile said. “I had the privilege of being on Survivor recently. So I lasted out there for 23 days of 26 with no clothes, no shelter, no food. [It] affected the noggin a little bit, but I’m hoping to, you know, be back on the horse for Jeopardy.”

“Survivor’s pretty hard on the body, but Jeopardy’s tough on the mind,” he continued. 

Basile ultimately answered 21 questions correctly, only missing four questions in the first two rounds. He also missed the Final Jeopardy question, but only risked $118 upon seeing the category, “Brands.”

Game 2 — June 20, 2024

Basile tripped over some body parts in game 2, forgetting to pose his response in question format, but quickly correcting himself in time to add money to his pot. The Survivor alum faced off against challengers Jonquil Garrick-Reynolds and Bob Longstreth, and noted in his interview that he’s paying for some of his friends to come watch him in the Jeopardy audience in Los Angeles.

Basile got 23 questions right and only five questions wrong in the first two rounds. He also missed the Final Jeopardy question for the second game in a row, and risked much more this time — a whopping $6,000, which he lost due to his incorrect response, bringing his daily total to $9,800. However, since his competitors also didn’t get the Final Jeopardy question correct, Basile once again emerged victorious, leaving him with a two-day total of $33,282.

Game 3 — June 21, 2024

On his third day on the show, Basile battled Josh Heit and Richelle Brown to earn another Jeopardy win. Basile successfully wagered $4,000 on a Daily Double during the Double Jeopardy round, and ended the first two rounds with 20 correct answers and only three misses.

Basile’s third game was more of a nail-biter than the previous ones — though he finally got the Final Jeopardy question correct after two misses in prior episodes, he didn’t bet anything on the category “Sports.” Heit also got the Final Jeopardy question correct, and since he wagered all $10,000 of his winnings, he ended up exactly tied with Basile’s $20,000, which activated a bonus tiebreaker round. Basile ultimately answered that question correctly, making him a 3-day champion. He won $20,000 in this game (just a few thousand shy of the personal record he set on Day 1), and now has a total of $53,282 lifetime winnings.

Game 4 — June 24, 2024

With 33 correct responses and only four incorrect answers, Basile netted another $22,400 during his fourth game, making his 4-day total $75,682. However, he missed Final Jeopardy once again — though his competitor, Graham Hicks, also didn’t hit the mark on that last question. (The third player, Erin Buker, was in the red by the time Final Jeopardy rolled around, so she didn’t participate.) Hicks did prove to be a fairly formidable opponent, however — he successfully doubled his score early in the game during a Daily Double in the clip above.

Game 5 — June 25, 2024

Basile barreled toward another victory on his fifth day on the show, earning another $15,601 to bring his five-day total to $91,283. Beating out Alan Elverum and Staci Garner, he answered 21 questions correctly and only missed five others. Basile responded to Final Jeopardy correctly this time, making him two-for-five in that last round.

That benchmark of five consecutive wins also means that the contestant will now qualify for the show’s Tournament of Champions, which pits the top players from the previous season against one another in a three-round battle. His $91,283 total placed him in the top four winners of season 40 so far, and he could move past the No. 2 and No. 3 players of the season if he continues to win.

Game 6 — June 26, 2024

Basile racked up another $20,318 in his sixth consecutive win, making his six-day total $111,601. The Survivor alum bested Maryl Harris and Natalie Miliano with 24 correct responses and only four misses, plus his third success in the Final Jeopardy round so far (though he only wagered $118 in the last round). Here, he surpassed Amy Hummel’s $100,994 career winnings to become the third-winningest player of season 40. That means that if he’s not surpassed by another player, he could bypass the quarterfinal round when the Tournament of Champions rolls around after the season finale.

Game 7 — June 27, 2024

Basile bested Luke Hemphill and Jayaker Kolli to take home another $18,000 in his seventh consecutive win, bringing his seven-day total to $129,601. At this point, he’s the second-biggest winner of the season, as he passed Alison Betts’ $121,500 with this game and now only trails behind Adriana Harmeyer’s $349,600.

Basile answered 19 questions correctly and only missed one question, aside from the Final Jeopardy puzzle about Colonel Sanders. Since he dominated the episode, however, his miss in the final round ultimately didn’t affect him much, as he only risked $1,000 after seeing the category was “Businessmen.” Basile also successfully wagered $4,000 on a Daily Double during the Double Jeopardy round.

Game 8 — June 28, 2024

Basile’s winning streak came to an end on Friday, as he lost his eighth and final game to Cat Pisacano. He began with a rocky start, only getting five questions right and missing a whopping seven in the first round, which meant he finished the standard Jeopardy section with -$1,400. He mounted an impressive comeback during Double Jeopardy, clawing his way to $9,600 with 14 more correct responses. However, the only two questions he missed in this round were as important as two questions can be: they were both Daily Doubles, and he ultimately lost $5,000 between the two questions.

The episode came down to Final Jeopardy. Entering the last question, Basile had a solid lead with $9,600, while Pisacano had $5,800. The Final Jeopardy category was “Notable American Women,” which prompted Basile to risk almost everything he had — $8,399. The question was “In her autobiography she tells of a rather ‘singular coincidence,’ that one of her Swiss ancestors was a teacher of the deaf,” and the correct response was Helen Keller — but Basile didn’t come up with the right name, landing him at $1,201. Pisacano, on the other hand, correctly guessed Keller, and wagered $5,700, which gave her a winning total of $11,500.

Basile ultimately ended his regular-play Jeopardy run with 184 correct answers, 40 incorrect answers, and a 3-for-8 Final Jeopardy record. He currently stands as the second-highest winner of season 40 with $129,601 — and he should be back for the Tournament of Champions once the season concludes.