Canadian ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Mattea Roach continues streak

Canadian “Jeopardy!” phenom Mattea Roach stands to reach a new milestone if she wins another game airing tonight.

The Toronto-based Roach, who spent part of her childhood in Halifax, extended her run Thursday night with her 18th victory on the TV quiz show.

The 23-year-old currently has the eighth-longest win streak in the program’s history.

One more win would move her up the list into a three-way tie for sixth place with 2005’s David Madden and 2019’s Jason Zuffranieri, who both won 19 games.

As of Thursday’s game, Roach had collected a total haul of US$438,183.

She has also earned a spot in the show’s tournament of champions, set to air in the fall, and holds the longest win streak by a Canadian contestant.

Roach lives in Toronto, but she has said on the show that she spent much of her childhood and part of her adolescence in Halifax, and has also lived in Calgary and Moncton, N.B.

Caitlin Hayes, the North Vancouver resident who competed against Roach on her 10th episode, said she’s having a blast watching her former rival’s impressive run.

“It’s really fun every night to watch and be cheering her on,” Hayes said. “She’s so good.”

Hayes already knew Roach would be a formidable opponent when she took to the Alex Trebek stage back in February.

The show films five episodes each day, and Hayes had been in the studio audience the previous day.

“So I sat there for, like, 10 hours and watched her play five games in a row. She won all five and she was so good,” Hayes said.

The next day, Hayes was called on to compete first thing. After a slow start, she was the only person to get the Final Jeopardy clue right. Unfortunately, she missed out on winning because she didn’t wager enough — something her nine-year-old daughter hasn’t let her forget.

“She’s definitely constantly saying, ‘Mommy should have bet more.”’