'INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY': Toronto PhD student makes Jeopardy! debut
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Gabriel De Roche is accustomed to being quick on his feet with answers while put on the spot.
The 33-year-old from Toronto served more than six years as a senior advisor to Ontario cabinet ministers and he said his background in communications helped him, in part, keep his cool up against the fierce competition of two other Jeopardy! players.
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De Roche, a University of Toronto international relations graduate who moved to San Diego, Calif., last year to pursue his PhD in political science, made his debut on the long-running quiz show Thursday evening.
“It was so exciting and completely different experience than playing the game at home,” he said.
“Once you’re up there, you’ve got the adrenaline going and the lights and cameras. The most important thing is having a quick thumb. It really is about buzzer speed.”
De Roche said he saw a call-out for people to take the show’s online audition quiz before the pandemic, and he found out in the summer that he had passed.
He then had to do another online test before show staffers invited him to audition as a contestant.
“We played a sample game of Jeopardy! and we buzzed-in using a clicky pen on Zoom,” he said.
The episode filmed in late September and De Roche, now looking back, said he was so thankful that he was able to meet legendary game show host Alex Trebek before his death last month from pancreatic cancer.
“His death was really sad,” he said.
“Alex has been a constant in our lives to be able to see him on TV every night. Alex celebrated people who have an intellectual curiosity who know interesting facts. We live in a world where is not as highly valued as it should be. His work to represent that is really inspirational.”
He and the Sudbury-born Trebek even off-camera quipped about their shared Canadian backgrounds.
“You could tell he was a hockey fan and the Canadian-ness would definitely come out once in a while,” De Roche said.
As for what it was like taping a game show during COVID-19?
“A few days before the taping of the show, everyone had to get a COVID test,” he said.
“Everyone was socially distanced on set and wearing masks at all times, except when the cameras turned on. I felt very safe.”
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De Roche’s family and friends still live in Toronto, and he said he hopes to do a Zoom party with them as the show airs — though it may be difficult given the three-hour time zone difference.
“We’re going to try to watch together, but I can’t actually watch myself until everyone’s already seen it on the east coast,” he laughs.
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