I was actually on E.I. when I was taping Jeopardy!
E.I. is Canadian Employment Insurance, which “provides temporary income support to unemployed workers while they look for employment or to upgrade their skills.
I had to file my little ‘no no, no, yes, no’ [form] while I was taping Jeopardy!, and I, of course, got docked for being out of the country.
They asked me, ‘Were you out of the country looking for work?” And I was like, ‘In a sense…I was out of the country chasing a fortune. But that’s not something the E.I. people want to hear, right?
I made my first appearance on Jeopardy! on April 5, 2022, and went on to win 23 games, winning $560,983 and becoming the most successful Canadian to play Jeopardy!
Still shaking my head in retrospect at how this came at a time in my life when I needed it most.
Then being qualified for the Tournament of Champions and Jeopardy! Masters and finishing in second place in the latter competition it seemed this chapter of my life may be coming to an end.
Oh what an Amazing ride it has been. Now onto more serious ventures.
I didn’t take many risky wagers on the Daily Doubles. I was not in a position where I felt comfortable throwing around house money, because it meant something to me, really concretely.
I never hid my financial situation while on the show, even declaring after my first win that all my student loans were paid off!
Then I found out that I never needed to use the money to pay off my student loans as Canada decided to end interest on university payments.
Instead, I used my winnings to improve their credit score.
As for what was next for me, they announced on Tuesday, August 2024 that I would be hosting a literature radio show on The CBC called Bookends With Mattea Roach that fall.
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 began airing that September and I am so proud and excited to say it is still going strong!
Being visible in the public as a queer or trans person is a vulnerable position, and I’m so grateful for the support I’ve received over the course of my run on Jeopardy from my queer and trans friends in real life as well as from LGBTQ+ past contestants and LGBTQ+ Jeopardy viewers writ large. Support from those who are not LGBTQ+ is in the high percentages as well.
I am feeling blessed and living my life the best and only way I can. Still living in Canada yet travelling the world via my Bookends Podcast and the many adventures the books and their authors take me on.