Ken Jennings surprises ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant with ‘mean’ surprise announcement

nypost.com:

Ken Jennings. McShane, who grew up in West Islip, Long Island, won three games and over $82,000 on the beloved quiz show in February, which made him one game show of qualifying for the show’s Tournament of Champions, according to its traditional rules.

But, as he recently told The Post, “I was thinking in the back of my head that they were going to invite me to the wildcard tournament.”“Jeopardy Champions Wildcard,” which is currently underway, is a second-chance competition for contestants who just merely missed qualifying for the Champ tournament.

On Tuesday, McShane, a Boston College grad, appeared on the city’s CBS news station to discuss possibly returning for the wildcard tourney when the broadcaster told him they had a message from Jennings.In the video, Jennings told McShane he would not be returning for the wildcard tournament. “I should have realized what he was doing, but for two seconds in my head, I really thought ‘Wow, this seems mean.

That was genuine shock on my face. I did not see that coming.”What came next was Jennings inviting him back for the Tournament of Champions, which films in February. “That hope to get called back was always in the back of my mind, but I kept telling myself to just be happy with what I got,” McShane continued to The Post. “It was a welcome surprise.