Former Jeopardy! contestants share how they were given very stern warning while backstage at iconic gameshow

FORMER Jeopardy! contestants have shared a very stern warning they got backstage at the iconic game show – while also revealing another show secret.

Jeopardy! catapulted onto our screens in 1964, with the show created by Merv Griffin.

Ken Jennings is at the helm of Jeopardy!Credit: NBC

Some former contestants have shared their experience on the showCredit: NBC

The iconic show is shot next door to the Wheel of Fortune setCredit: NBC
Ken Jennings now heads up the famous quiz competition, with some fans and former contestants now sharing their experiences of what it was like to star on the show.

Taking to a Jeopardy!-dedicated Reddit thread, one person asked fellow users of the social media platform if they had any behind-the-scenes secrets to share.

“What happens in the Green Room before the games are taped?” the original poster on Reddit asked, to which several fellow show fans and former contestants responded.

“One good thing to come from COVID (besides an amazing mask tan) was sitting in the Wheel of Fortune audience seats instead of the Green Room to maintain distance.

“We even got to stand by the Wheel waiting for makeup,” one person shared, before adding the stern warning they were given backstage, which was: “DoNotTouchTheWheel.”

Someone then replied: “Still bummed that I never got to spin the wheel.

“The couple of us who didn’t get drawn until the Friday game kept trying to make our case (especially after the wheel crew uncovered it and started shooting b-roll or some such later in the afternoon).”

A third person then added: “I was bummed too.

“I asked but it was covered in a nice thick tarp kind of sheet and we were heavily warned not to touch it or go near it.”

WHEEL OF FORTUNE CROSSOVER

While a fourth said: “I wanted to touch the Wheel so bad.”

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And a fifth penned: “I got to spin the wheel in 2003 as a contestant! It’s heeeeaaaavvvvyyyy.”

Someone else then shared a first-person account from their time on Jeopardy! during the pandemic and how there was a crossover between the show and Wheel of Fortune.

“Every Jeopardy! contestant received a bag with an N95 mask, hand sanitizer, and alcohol wipes. Staff told us we needed to carry this bag everywhere we went,” they said.

They then went on: “We file into the Wheel of Fortune studio, dark and desolate.

Jeopardy! Set Secrets

Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:

Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.

“This is our staging area: we put our things down in the audience seating, we were briefed on rules and legal things, we were told to put our phones away after I sneak [a] picture of the Wheel of Fortune set with the lights off.”

FILMED IN THE SAME STUDIO

Gameshows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune are taped in adjacent studios at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California.

Since 1995, Wheel of Fortune has been shot at Studio 11, while Jeopardy! has been filmed at The Alex Trebek Stage, which was formerly Studio 10.

Each show films for two weeks and then takes a break while the other films.

According to chatter online, the two gameshows even have the same film crew.

Many other gameshows have been filmed in the same location over the years, with the likes of American Gladiators, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, and The Celebrity Dating Game all shot in Culver City.