When Celeste DiNucci appears on “Jeopardy!” next week, it won’t be her first time competing on the popular syndicated quiz show. It’ll be her fourth.
DiNucci, a music presenter for the nonprofit Ars Nova Workshop, made her first appearance in 2006. That’s when she found out she’s actually pretty good. The Philadelphian went on a five-game winning streak, took home almost $85,000, and earned an invite to the 2007 Tournament of Champions … which she won. In 2014, she got her third call to come on the show, that time for the “Battle of the Decades” Tournament.
Flash forward a decade. This February, DiNucci got a surprise email asking her to compete in the first-ever Jeopardy Invitational Tournament — a high-powered competition featuring “champions and fan favorites from the past.”
“Duh, I said yes,” DiNucci said, and she was on a plane to LA a few weeks later. Hey Philly spoke with her about her experience.
How did it feel to return after a decade of not being on Jeopardy?
“The first three times that I was on, the crew there was basically the same … so when I went back, it was like seeing old friends, you know? This time, there was nobody there that I knew — except for one guy, Mitch, the guy that puts your mic pack on.
“Things like the timing of the buzzer is different now, because they have new people doing that. In some ways, it was very familiar. The set is basically the same.”
How did you prepare [this time]? Did you study at all?
“It came so unexpectedly … and I had lots of deadlines. What I did try to do — at least in the evenings — was play some old Jeopardy games on the J-Archive. I wasn't really learning anything new, because there just wasn't time for that. But at least it was reminding me of that kind of Jeopardy universe of knowledge and how to access that again. And I tried to get some sleep, and that was about it.”
DiNucci with Jeopardy host Ken Jennings. (Jeopardy)
Former host Alex Trebek sadly died in 2020. How did it feel to play with Ken Jennings as the emcee?
“I think he's doing actually a very good job — a better job than I expected that he would. I've conversed with Ken in other settings and other circumstances, and it's good to see how comfortable and how at ease he is in this role.
“I think that he's able to joke with the contestants in a way just because he's been there, you know? It's very different from Alex, but it's good.”
📺 Want to cheer DiNucci on? Tune into 6ABC at 7 p.m. on Monday. She’ll be playing against two other heavy-hitters in the Jeopardy world, Amy Schneider and Austin Rogers.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
