‘Jeopardy!’ champion James Holzhauer gets big reaction with his cheeky remark

“Jeopardy!” legend James Holzhauer has got the smarts plus the jokes. 

In the season premiere of “Jeopardy! Masters,” which culls together the show’s greatest champions, Holzhauer, 39, couldn’t help himself from giving a cheeky remark after answering a question from the spelling category. 

Asked to spell a botanist’s last name that also worked as a flower or shade of reddish purple, Holzhauer answered correctly with “fuchsia.”

During the spelling portion of the show, James Holzhauer was faced with this question. (ABC)

“What is F – U – C,” he said, staring into oblivion, before pausing.  “H – S – I – A,” he added, with a little smirk. 

Without skipping a beat, talking over host Ken Jennings, who said he’d answered correctly, Holzhauer quipped, “Gotta be careful with that fourth letter.” 

That earned giggles from the crowd and smiles from his fellow contestants, Yogesh Raut and Amy Schneider.

James Holzhauer is second to only Ken Jennings in winnings for regular seasons of “Jeopardy!” (ABC)

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James Holzhauer grinned as he tried to finish his answer and spell “fuchsia” correctly. (ABC)

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Social media users were tickled by Holzhauer’s commentary, writing to Instagram, “I laughed [at] that one I can’t stop [laughing at] what James said. Haha!!!” Another added, “Tonight’s show was hilarious.”

One person marveled that they’d been spelling ‘fuchsia’ incorrectly for so long. “Today I learned I’ve been spelled fuschia wrong my whole life,” they acknowledged.

James faced off against Yogesh Raut and Amy Schneider. (ABC)

But the laughs didn’t end there. When Holzhauer was being introduced to the audience later in the show, Jennings explained that Holzhauer was the final contestant announced as a part of the program – he’s referred to himself as the “final boss” of the tournament.

“What do you mean by that?” Jennings asked about the “final boss” comment.

“I’m the main event,” he said stoically, which garnered a rousing laugh out of Jennings.

“We’ve got five openers, and then it’s you,” Jennings retorted.

“You’ve beaten the Goombas. Now it’s time to beat Bowser,” Holzhauer said, referencing Mario characters.

Ken Jennings found James Holzhauer’s remarks to be very funny. (ABC)

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Although the tournament is not completed yet, Holzhauer has some work to do if he wants to reign victorious. He came in second place on Wednesday’s episode. “Jeopardy! Masters” resumes on Monday.

Holzhauer is the third-highest-earning American to ever appear on a game show. He famously had a 32-game winning streak on regular “Jeopardy!” and won the Tournament of Champions in 2019.