‘Jeopardy!’ Winners Outraged After Reports Inaccurately Credit Contestants With Historic First

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On July 1, Jason Singer won Jeopardy! four years after his wife, Susan McMillan, accomplished the same feat. However, they’re not the first married couple to both be named champions, contrary to multiple reports — and former winners are setting the record straight on social media.

Kristin Sausville, a five-time Jeopardy! Winner in 2015 who is married to another champion, Justin Sausville, took to Facebook to call out the inaccurate reports.

“There is something really surreal and honestly kind of sinister in watching part of yourself be erased in real time,” Kristin declared in a July 2 post.

“Maybe you’ve seen an article in the past day or two about how one of the Jeopardy! contestants last night had a wife who was a J! champion, and was hoping he would win so they could be the first married champions in J! History,” she continued. “Well. If you’re friends with me, you’re probably aware that both Justin and I won; Justin in 2011 and me in 2015.”

Additionally, Kristin pointed out that she and her husband weren’t the first married couple champions. Others came before them, including Dan Pawson and Andrea Saenz. Amy Stephenson and Scott Bateman, and David Rigsby and Ryan Alley, were also married winners.

“I’m sure it’s a matter of weeks before AI like ChatGPT and Google will give you [Singer and McMillan] as the answer to the question, based on the sheer volume of bot activity,” Kristin speculated.

She added, “It’s really Orwellian to watch how easily it’s happening. Like at the end of the day, I’m not all ‘but my LEGACY!’ about it, but I am really bothered by seeing how quickly misinformation can be spread and accepted as truth. We should keep that in mind for everything we see online and particularly via AI.”

In the comments of another Facebook post, Rigsby chimed in with his own correction.

“This story is incorrect,” he pointed out. “They are not the first married Jeopardy couple. There have been at least a half-dozen. Simple Internet search would reveal that…”

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