Behind the Scenes of ‘Jeopardy!’ With Drew Goins: His Surprising Ad Break Ritual Revealed

Exclusive

Jeopardy!, Inc.

Jeopardy!‘s Second Chance champion and fan-favorite Drew Goins is reflecting on what it’s really like filming an episode of the long-running game show behind the scenes, and one of his ad-break rituals may surprise some.

According to Goins, what you see is what you get when it comes to Jeopardy! as he says, “I was surprised how little TV magic there is. There’s nothing about Jeopardy! that feels misleading. The show breaks where the commercial breaks in taping. They go up there and they’re not talking about Eggland’s best eggs, but you do have five minutes, and Ken takes some questions from the audience,” he adds.

Among one of Goins’ go-to moves during those all-important ad breaks was exercise. “You get a chance to stretch,” he notes, adding, “I kind of became notorious for using the breaks to do calisthenics right there on the stage.”

Jeopardy!, Inc.

So, what exactly did those calisthenics entail? “I do air squats and toe touches and just shake my arms all around. By the end of it, people on the crew were copying me and mocking me,” Goins teases.

And while those moments during the ads allowed Goins to reset a little bit between buzzing in on clues, he acknowledges that when filming, “The pacing that you see is exactly the pacing that happens. The clues that you see are the clues that happen. It just feels appropriately Jeopardy! in the subject matter, but very honest.”

In regard, to the topic, Goins references another hit competition: CBS‘s Survivor. “I think of other shows where so much of it is the magic, right? I think about Survivor, which I adore. Obviously, there have to be cameras all over the place, but you think of them as on this deserted island where there’s nobody but them, right? When I went on Jeopardy!, I was like, wow, this is exactly what it’s like on TV.”

“There’s no surprise here, so the lack of surprise was a surprise if that makes sense,” Goins concludes. But you can find out for yourself by applying to play the game show yourself. What do you think of Goins’ little ad break routine? Sound off in the comments section, and stay tuned for his return in the Champions Wildcard.