Jeopardy! favorite snubbed from Masters as fans slam ‘unfortunate’ decision- but another icon will return for tournament

A JEOPARDY! favorite will not compete in the Masters tournament, but fortunately for disappointed fans, another show legend will return to the small screen for the first time in five years.

Jeopardy! released the cast of the Masters Tournament, as the spinoff is set to premiere on ABC on Wednesday, April 30.

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Jeopardy! Masters will return on April 30Credit: Getty

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James Holzhauer will not compete on Jeopardy! MastersCredit: Getty

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But fans will see the return of favorite Brad Rutter after a five-year hiatusCredit: Getty
The participants competing for $500,000 include Neilesh Vinjamuri, who is the 2025 Tournament of Champions winner, Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut, Isaac Hirsch, Adriana Harmeyer, Roger Craig, Juveria Zaheer and 2025 Invitational Tournament champion Matt Amodio.

Also appearing in the tournament is Brad Rutter.

As fans know, Brad is the show’s biggest winner with $4,938,436 in earnings.

This will be the first time since the 2020 Brad will compete on the game show.

But missing from the tournament is fan-favorite and legend James Holzhauer.

FAN REACTION

Fans turned to Reddit to express their dismay over James’ absence.

One fan wrote, “I’m sure we’ll find out either from James on Twitter or through the podcast, but I’d have to assume that either James decided to pass on Masters this time or the taping schedule didn’t work for him.

“I can’t imagine the Jeopardy producers would just actively choose to pass him over.”

A second speculated, “Now that Matt has taken over, James is no longer needed.”

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A third commented, “Yeah no James is really unfortunate especially considering Brad is back.”

A fourth argued, “Masters are supposed to be legends. I think they overcompensated due to last year’s producer pick issue. Victoria and Yogesh earned their spots as did JIT and TOC winners, glad Brad got his due; sad James isn’t in the lineup, he’s the most established master.”

Another wrote, “No James? That’s surprising, guess they decided Top 2 stays retroactively or am I missing something?”

And another believes it is James’ decision, “I think it’s more likely though that he probably just had something going on around the time they were filming this year’s Masters and thus declined to play (either that or perhaps James is just wanting a break from Jeopardy for a bit- which considering that it’s been a major story of his life for the past 6 years or so, I can’t say I blame him).”

The U.S. Sun reached out to James’ rep for comment on why he is not on Masters.

Fans also expressed their excitement over Brad, as one wrote, “I didn’t expect Brad to be there, but I’m happy about it too.”

Another shared, “What?! It is great to see all Brad Rutter, Roger Craig, and Juveria Zaheer there, but… Where is James?”

James is a professional sports gambler and is the third-highest winner on Jeopardy!, as he has won $2,462,216 in 32 games.

He also won Masters in 2023.

Jeopardy! Universe

Jeopardy! first aired in 1964 until 1975. Then the nighttime version began in 1974. Since then, spinoffs of the game show have emerged. Here are all of those

Jeopardy! – (primetime) 1974 to present, weekdays on ABC at 7pm

Tournament of Champions – 1984 to present, features the top champions who have appeared on the show since the last tournament

Celebrity Jeopardy! – 1992 to present, has celebrities comepete against each other to raise money for chairty

Jeopardy! Masters – 2023 to present, features six notable recent Jeopardy! champions competing against each other

Jeopardy! National College Championship – 2022 to present, undergraduates from 36 colleges and universities across America compete to win $100,000

Other versions of Jeopardy! have fizzled out throughout the years

MORE SHOWS

ABC also revealed Celebrity Wheel of Fortune will return on Wednesday, April 30 at 8pm.

Pat Sajak, who retired last season, will return for the spinoff with Vanna White.

Celebrities set to appear on the show are Tiffany Haddish, Josh Gad, Justin Long, Ellie Kemper, Joe Manganiello Rainn Wilson, Katharine McPhee and more stars.

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Victoria Groce will compete on MastersCredit: Getty

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Yogesh Raut will also compete in the tournamentCredit: Getty