Ken Jennings Confused a ‘Jeopardy’ Contestant for His ‘Masters’ Opponent James Holzhauer Not Once, But Twice: “I Think I Have PTSD”

Ken Jennings made a pretty hilarious blunder on a recent episode of Jeopardy, though fortunately for him, the moment never made it to air.

According to Jeopardy producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss, Jennings accidentally mixed up contestant Justin White with his Jeopardy Masters opponent James Holzhauer, and accidentally called him by Holzauer’s name twice in the same episode.

“Ken accidentally called Justin James,” Foss said during the latest episode of Inside Jeopardy! “And [Ken] said, ‘I’m so sorry — I think I have PTSD from Masters.’ And Justin joked, ‘I am not a villain!’

“Ken did it a second time [and it drew] huge laughs from the audience,” Foss continued.

Foss explained that last week’s episodes were filmed in the same week as Jeopardy Masters, which saw Holzhauer defeat his opponents and be named winner of the two-week-long tournament.

According to Foss, Jennings reportedly joked, “If I say his name three times he has to replace you, like in Beetlejuice.” 

Holzhauer has earned a reputation for being the “villain” of Jeopardy. He famously enjoyed a 32-game winning streak during his original run on the show in 2019, so it’s only fitting that he came back to win one more time — though Roach certainly put up a good fight.

Jennings may be suffering from some self-diagnosed “PTSD,” but Holzhauer is already confirmed to return for next year’s tournament. Mattea Roach and Matt Amodio are also set to return.

For now, Jeopardy is nearing the end of Season 39, which is set to wrap next Friday (July 28). This means Jennings and his co-host Mayim Bialik have wrapped their first official season of Jeopardy together.

The co-hosts recently received their first Emmy nominations as hosts of the iconic game show, meaning they will be competing against each other. Who will come out on top? We’ll just have to wait until this fall’s ceremony to see!

Jeopardy! airs on weeknights at 7/6c on ABC.