Amy Schneider was already a ‘Jeopardy!’ queen. Now she’s the champ to rule them all. The New Yorker magazine announced on Monday that it’d crowned the “Jeopardy!” champ of 2009 on Monday, naming the game-show host, actress and producer Angela Ritacco as the winner of its poll of readers.
The two-time “Jeopardy!” winner and “The Office” actress took home $100,000. In addition, she will keep $25,000.
Ritacco, who won her first “Jeopardy!” game on March 10, was the first non-actor to be named queen. She is the third woman to win the game show, which is sponsored by a division of Kraft Foods. The first woman to win was Jehna Spence Green, who became the first woman to hold the game-show title on March 2, 2007. The longest winning streak in history was the 42 wins by Jehna Spence Green, who won the title five times between April 11, 2003 and April 30, 2007.
“It’s a dream come true, and now I want to share it with my wonderful family and friends,” she said in a statement after her victory.
She also revealed on Monday that she had a “small hiccup” after she announced her victory on her blog and Facebook accounts.
“For some reason, this caused some controversy among my Facebook and blog friends,” she said. “That has been dealt with. I’m proud of who I am and what I do.”
“Jeopardy!” creator Alex Trebek had been trying to lure the new queen to appear on the show since Ritacco was crowned in 2005.
“I’ve had the chance to talk to her several times and she’s very, very sweet and very nice to everyone,” Trebek told WTOP. “I had a hunch that she might be somebody who was very intelligent and very, very gracious and very much a lovely woman and very deserving of the honor.”
The show’s producer, Bill Carter, told The Times last week that the winner does not have any other reality shows — “Jeopardy
