Jeopardy! player claps back after fans say his Q&A story ‘wasn’t unique’ despite sweet family shout-out

A JEOPARDY! contestant responded to fans criticizing him for overselling what turned out to be a bit of a snoozefest onstage anecdote.

On Wednesday’s Jeopardy! episode, Larry P. Wellington said he came up with “unique” names for his kids.

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Larry P. Wellington was mocked by fans for saying his daughter’s name, Harper, was ‘unique’Credit: Jeopardy

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Sole Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings listening to Larry’s story on Wednesday nightCredit: Jeopardy
Larry faced Alex Pribil and Issac Hirsch, who won his sixth consecutive game for $141,388 in total.

During the episode, Ken Jennings chatted with each player, as is tradition, and mentioned that Larry’s children have “themed names?”

“Right, well, when our daughter was born, we were looking for a unique name,” Larry excitedly replied.

“And we settled on Harper – we thought ‘Harper, Harper Lee,’ that’s pretty cool.”

“And our son came along like you know, we have an opportunity here. Beckett, for Samuel Beckett.”

Even Ken, 50, looked a little unfazed and joked, “Writers and family…I guess if you have any more kids, you have to read more books.”

‘THEY SOUND LIKE NORMAL NAMES’

After the game, fans took to Reddit, mocking the Q&A anecdote and the names for not actually being that unique.

“‘MY KIDS HAVE WEIRD NAMES!’ Sir, they sound like normal names….” one user snarked.

“Harper is literally the 11th most popular girl name right know, lmao,” wrote another.

“I thought he was going to say he named his other kids Jem, Dill, and Boo,” as in To Kill a Mockingbird,” a third viewer wrote.

Larry responded in the thread and told off the haters, saying Harper was less popular than it is now.

He wrote, “And it was the 120th most popular name when we decided to name her that.

“Sorry that I’m a trendsetter,” he added with a little smiley face emoji.

STAND-UP GUY

Meanwhile, current champ Isaac has won over fans with his hilarious Q&A stories – no surprise since he’s a former stand-up comic.

During his fourth win, he recalled a recent fitness journey that left his figure “exactly the same” after “bulking up and gaining 30 pounds.”

During his third win, he shared that not himself but his car had a cameo on the TV show Brooklyn 99.

During win two, he drew laughs by recalling how he “ironically” was crowned high school homecoming king.

“Protect Isaac at all costs how is he so effortlessly funny,” another Instagram user recently praised.

“I don’t recall any contestant having such a run of funny and/or charming anecdotes.”

Isaac came in hot during his first win with a Q&A story revealing that his dad appeared on Jeopardy! – and lost – 30 years ago.

“My dad was on Jeopardy! in the ’80s and one of the first years Alex hosted, and he lost,” said Isaac.

“I used to tease him about it as a kid. Like Weird Al’s ‘I Lost On Jeopardy!,” being like, ‘It’s about you, Dad!’”

Ken burst out laughing as Isaac concluded, “So today, we get to find out how real karma is.”

However, Isaac’s gameplay is no joke. He’s gone 169 correct, 23 incorrect on clues overall, and 10 for 12 on Daily Doubles.

Some fans even speculate he could be the new frontrunner for the next Tournament of Champions.

So far, the other qualifiers for the next Tournament of Champions are Survivor alum Drew Basile (7 wins), Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins), Alison Betts (5 wins) and Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins), and Celebrity Jeopardy!’s Lisa Ann Walter.

With four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde will likely join in, too.

Isaac will go for his seventh win on Thursday night’s episode against two new challengers as everyone’s wondering how far he’ll go.

Jeopardy! airs at 7 pm ET – check your local listings.

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Fans pointed out Harper is the ’11th most popular’ girls name – to which he responded, it was the 120th most popular name when we decided to name her that’Credit: Jeopardy!

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Isaac Hirsch won the episode, making him a six-day champCredit: Jeopardy!

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In contrast, Isaac’s mid-game stories are quite memorable, including how his dad (seen here) was on Jeopardy! ‘and lost’Credit: Instagram/ ibhirsch