Jeopardy! champ Mattea Roach scores new hosting gig as fans spot hidden connection to Alex Trebek

JEOPARDY! champion Mattea Roach has secured their “dream job,” the fan-favorite player announced Tuesday.

Mattea , 24, will host their own CBC Radio show, Bookends With Mattea Roach, which premieres this fall.

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Instagram / cbcbooks

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The Canadian-born contestant will host CBC’s new author interview show, which will also be a podcast .

CBC, Canada’s oldest continually-existing broadcasting network, shared the buzzworthy details on their website .

“Bookends will feature conversations with some of the world’s biggest authors and rising stars,” the outlet wrote.

“Guided by Roach’s thoughtful curiosity and broad knowledge, Bookends will dive deep into each writer’s work and situate it in the broader context of history and the current world.”

“Roach isn’t afraid to ask the tough questions and promises that listeners will walk away with food for thought and exciting new books to read.”

The authors in the first season include Heather O’Neill, Kaveh Akbar, Sloane Crosley, Casey McQuiston, Morgan Talty, Corinna Chong, Teresa Wong, V. V. Ganeshananthan, Alan Hollinghurst, and David Huebert.

Mattea previously co-hosted a podcast on the network called The Backbench and won the CBC’s 2023 contest, Canada Reads.

Bookends with Mattea Roach will air on CBC Radio One on Sundays and Wednesdays at 1 p.m. ET starting September 8.

It will also be available on CBC Listen as a podcast, replacing the Writers & Company podcast.

‘DREAM JOB’

Mattea re-shared the announcement on their X account, writing, “Some personal news.”

They added: “I’m enough of a cynic that I gave up on the idea of a ‘dream job’ forever ago, but if reading books and interviewing authors for the national public broadcaster isn’t a dream job I don’t know what is. Bookends begins airing September 8, I am so proud and excited!”

‘CARRYING ON ALEX’S LEGACY!’

Fans flooded to social media to celebrate Mattea ‘s big career news.

“Holy moly, great news!” one fan wrote on the CBC’s Instagram.

“Shut the front door!” wrote another, as a third wrote, “Mattea, you will be fabulous!”

Another fan spotted a winning connection to the late Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek ; he got his start hosting a CBC show.

“Mattea becoming a host on CBC Radio is like full circle for Alex Trebek, as he started his broadcast career on CBC Radio. Carrying on his legacy!”

‘NOT JUST SUMMARIZING THE PLOT’

Mattea spoke about their new role with the CBC Books in their announcement.

They shared they’ve dreamt of this since elementary school when they wrote their dream job was: “Any job that involves a lot of reading and writing … I just don’t want to be a doctor.”

“I’m excited to have the opportunity to do more interviews than I’ve been doing, to talk to more authors, to read more and to hopefully learn a lot on the job,” Mattea also told the outlet.

They also shared the show’s title was a play on words as they will go beyond just summarizing the books with the authors.

“We’re not just going to be summarizing the plot […] or giving you stuff that you can read in the book and find out for yourself.

“We’re of course going to touch on that, but we’re hoping that it’s going to be a bit more expansive, go beyond the text.”

Mattea also shared how their Jeopardy! experience tied into this role in terms of perfecting listening skills.

“I have to kind of be able to pick up on, ‘Oh, that’s just like a weird unexpected thing that the guest said. I feel like I want to ask more about that.'”

MATTEA’S MONEY MOVES

Mattea was working as a tutor when they went on a 23-game winning streak on Jeopardy! in 2022.

They were a huge draw for their signature wrist flicks, tattoos , bold outfits , and knowledge base.

They won $560,983 and became the youngest-ever super-champion at a mere 23 and the longest-running Canadian contestant ever.

Mattea took part in Masters Season 1 and Masters Season 2 on ABC.

They nearly won the tournament in its inaugural year, catching fire in the finals but ultimately losing to James Holzhauer and placing second.

Their near-upset win came as Mattea’s father, Phillip Henry Roach, died while the tournament was taped.

Mattea tearfully revealed the loss on stage, saying they were dedicating their performance to him at one point.

“My dad passed away at the start of the month very suddenly. He’s a huge part of the reason why I’m here.”

James whispered, “Your dad would be so proud of you” and went over and hugged Mattea when declared the champion.

In Masters 2024, Mattea could not repeat their success and was eliminated before the semifinals.

Afterward, they announced they’d take a lengthy hiatus from the show and likely future Invitational Tournaments on X.

“I hope to return to the Jeopardy stage someday feeling hungry to win and hopefully in a position to turn in a better performance than I did this time.”

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