Jeopardy! contestant Sean Duffie reveals why he 'didn't stick around' after huge loss

Appearing on Jeopardy! is a dream for many, but only a handful of people get chosen to compete on the show .

One lucky applicant was Sean Duffie , who went head-to-head with Monica Anderson and champion Neilesh Vinjamuri . Sadly, Sean ended Final Jeopardy in second place with $2,799 to Neilesh's $29,100. Monica came last with $2,600.

Sean, who is a Spanish and civics teacher from Kentwood, Michigan, was given the chance to watch other episodes of Jeopardy! being recorded , but decided not to accept the offer. While some fans might think he was too upset with his own performance to stick around, Sean insisted that wasn't the case.

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Taking to Reddit, he explained: "I didn’t stick around — my family that I was with was a little antsy to explore LA." A fan commented to ask if he was an alternate for the previous taping day.

They posted: "Did it feel weird seeing the other games before this one air on TV (since you knew that all the other champs had to have lost in order for Neilesh to be the returning champ)? Actually, come to think of it, were you an alternate for the previous taping day?"

Sean said: "Not an alternate, just pulled the short straw to go first for the filming days." He added: "I actually didn’t watch recent episodes due to being out of the country for the last month, so I’ve followed on the sub and J Archive. So, Neil’s winning episode was news to me until I got to this sub."

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Sean described his time on Jeopardy! as "an absolute whirlwind" and gushed about the champion Neilesh Vinjamuri. "Neil was outstanding, we actually didn’t know he was the returning champ until very close to the first episode filming of the day," he said.

Sean added: "He was super kind and a great competitor." Speaking about the overall experience, he added: "What a great experience! Everything past contestants have said is true — it’s an absolute whirlwind. Watching just to see the questions from this episode because I only remember a few of them."

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