DANGER! champion Adriana Harmeyer was outwitted, defeated and bested by a former Survivor contestant in a totally shocking match on Wednesday.
The 15 Day winner lost to Survivor 45 alum Drew Basile in a breakout, leaving viewers stunned and some disheartened by his victory lap move.
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Adriana faced Drew and Tekla Sauter for her 16th consecutive win on June 19, having raised $349,600 to date.
Ken Jennings noted that if so, it would be tied for the tenth longest running Jeopardy! history.
Drew also made history by being the first Survivor contestant to compete on the game show – and he came to play.
After Danger! round, Adriana ran as usual, with $8,100 (and the first Daily Double), Drew $5,600 and Tekla $3,200.
In the interview segment, Drew got the studio elephant out of the way; “It’s not my first rodeo, Ken. I had the privilege of being on Survivor recently.
“I lasted 23 out of 26 days without shelter or food, which took a bit of a toll on my mind, but I hope to be back on the Jeopardy path!”
Ken asked Drew how they compared. “Survivor is hard on the body, but Jeopardy! It’s hard on the mind, so I’ll tell you later,” he joked. Ken laughed, saying darkly that Drew was “reserving” true feelings from her.
On Double Jeopardy!, Adriana’s torch-dousing moment came when Drew found the second Daily Double and fearlessly bet $10,000.
“Wow,” Ken exclaimed, and he nailed it like “Midway,” moving from $12,200 into the lead.
Although Tekla managed to get the last Daily Double, the game was over from there.
‘GREAT VICTORY!’
Drew had an unassailable lead in Final Jeopardy with $23,600, Tekla with $10,600 and Adriana with $9,300.
The “BRANDS” clue was: “In 1978, a new men’s cologne was launched called this, which is being reproduced in the company’s iconic logo.”
Adriana was wrong, a rare sight to see, from third place an even rarer sight, with “Axe” falling to $7,900.
Tekla nailed it with “Polo”, finishing with $18,601.
Drew revealed that he used his leeway to write a joke response: “What is Jeopardy?”
He had a huge smile and the audience laughed.
“We should have a colony called Jeopardy!” Ken said, surprised by the response to the joke. “What would sweat smell like now?”
Drew lost $118 to win $23,482, clapping with excitement.
“As Alex Trebek used to say, we have a Giant Killer on our hands, rarely as giant as this!” Ken exclaimed. “Congratulations Drew on the big win!”
The camera cut to Adriana, who gave a deep, disappointed sigh.
Ken added: “Adriana Harmeyer, of course, leaves us after 15 wins.”
“This is the 11th longest Jeopardy! history, we will see you again in the Tournament of Champions. Congratulations.”
Drew and Adriana then had an awkward interaction; he motioned to shake her hand, and she raised hers to congratulate him, but placed it back on the floor.
They then made eye contact again and finally shook hands severely.
‘GOOD ANSWER’
Fans flooded social media, where they were stunned by the defeat of Adriana – a Survivor contestant none other than herself.
“I knew Drew was previously on Survivor, so I had a feeling he would be willing to play more aggressively than usual. That $10K bet was even more than I expected. It’s a shame to see Adriana go ; I hope she goes far in ToC,” wrote one Redditor.
“Well, I expected Drew to do well, but I didn’t think he would have a breakout. I hope to see him get at least 4 wins and reach the TOC too”, praised another.
Others didn’t like that Drew used his escape to write a joke, given the context; he had just defeated a 15-day champion.
“I wasn’t a fan of Drew in this game. This was one of the few games that I really supported Adriana”, wrote a third.
A fourth asked: “Don’t like the response to the joke?”
They responded, “I thought it was gloating in a way. I think you should still play the game to the fullest instead of giving a silly answer because you know you got away.”
Another wrote: “Yes. Adriana lost to Survivor’s Drew Basile.
“Good luck to you, Adriana. It was a joy to watch you, your games were competitive and you knew what you were doing. It will be hard not to root for you at ToC!”
Yet another posted: “Good race to Adriana, Drew played very well, very brave.”
Adriana will return for the 2025 ToC, while Drew will look for his second win tomorrow to see if he can turn his surprise victory into a streak.
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‘THE HATERS CALLED ME KNOW EVERYTHING’
Drew was announced as Jeopardy! competitor last month.
The 22-year-old immediately praised his intellect on Survivor and also did so after being kicked out of the top six.
“I’m one of the smartest people you’ve ever had on Survivor. Now, I don’t say that to brag. I say that in fact,” he said. Stop.
“I’m a great conversationalist. I can sell, sell, sell. So I thought those attributes would put me very well in any combination of the Final Three.”
The Ivy League graduate student, the youngest of his season, used his knowledge of trivia throughout the Tribal Council confessionals.
Drew would use history, philosophy, and other random topics to turn his experiences on the island and his mindset in the game into long soliloquies.
Currently studying for a master’s degree in Oxford, England, he also won a national trivia event in 2019.
“Yeah, I thought he was kind of arrogant on the show,” one user posted when it was announced that he would be on Jeopardy! last month.
“Good for him, but the guy was too full of himself on Survivor. He called himself one of the smartest to ever play the game,” someone posted at the time.
Others like the guy: “Drew is one of the top 5 surviving players for me. I love Omar and Juveria. I’m ecstatic.”
“Haters called me a know-it-all,” Drew wrote in Instagram, announcing his appearance. “It’s time to prove them right.”
Drew isn’t the only Jeopardy! champion with a Surivor connection.
Juveria Zaheer is the older sister of Omar Zaheer, who competed on Survivor 42 in 2022. Juveria won the Second Chance and Champions Wildcard tournament, earning $100,000.
ADRIANA’S RECORD
Meanwhile, Adriana first arrived on the May 31 episode and has a lot to be proud of as season 40’s first super champion.
She was the first 10+ day winner in almost two years, the previous 13 day champion being Ray LaLonde.
Adriana outlasted Ray and had the longest streak since 21-day champion Cris Pannullo in the fall of 2022.
However, Adriana plays nothing like Cris, who scored 48/49 in 66 Daily Doubles.
Instead, Adriana used a traditional strategy that set her apart from every other Streaker in the post-Holzhauer era.
She is a rare, top-down player who refuses to hunt for Daily Doubles.
She has only found 14 of the 45 clues hidden in her sequence and doesn’t jump around the board to find them.
She relied on pure knowledge, scoring an astonishing 92% on the general clues and 13/16 on Final Jeopardy.
The other qualifiers for the upcoming Tournament of Champions (all women) are five-day winners Alison Betts and Dr. Amy Hummel and Lisa Ann Walter from Celebrity Jeopardy!
That said, with four wins, Grant DeYoung and Amar Kakirde will likely participate as well.
Danger! airs at 7pm ET on ABC – check your local listings.
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This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
