For the past 19 weeknights, millions of viewers have welcomed Mattea Roach into their living rooms — or wherever they watch television.
The 23-year-old from Nova Scotia has dominated on Jeopardy! and is already the most successful Canadian to ever compete on the program.
But for her family in Halifax, the fact she’s even on the show is a surprise in itself. Not because she’s not intelligent — her younger brother actually describes her as “super, super smart” — but because she’s such a private person. “If it was just knowledge-based and there were no other factors involved, I know that she would compete outstandingly and as well as anybody in the world could,” her mother, Patti MacKinnon, said on the eve of her daughter going for win No.
20. “But there are a lot of other factors with Jeopardy! A lot of other factors, and some of them involve luck. And then there is the public perception, and you’re putting yourself out there in front of millions of people.