Jeopardy! Masters viewers are wondering if host Ken Jennings unintentionally revealed some shocking news on Wednesday’s (May 1) episode when he implied ABC’s The Chase had been canceled.
The comment came during the Masters premiere, which saw Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament winner Victoria Groce dominate super-champs Mattea Roach and Matt Amodio with 29,867 points. Groce is a pro-quizzer who appears on The Chase as “The Queen.”
During the player anecdotes, Jennings addressed Groce, saying, “And our viewers probably remember you from The Chase, where you were known as The Queen.”
“Are,” Groce replied, highlighting how Jennings spoke in the past tense.
“Are, sorry,” Jennings replied as Groce laughed and told him, “That’s alright.”
“Thank you for taking time out of your busy regal schedule to be with us on Masters,” the host added.
Fans also picked up on Jennings’ wording and took to social media to share their concerns.
“Is The Chase cancelled or not? Ken said “you were known as The Queen on The Chase”, and Victoria said “I am still known as that”, which kind of implied they had different thoughts about the state of that show,” wrote one viewer on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
Victoria Groce on ‘The Chase’; ABC/YouTube
They continued, “It hasn’t been on for about a year and it isn’t scheduled to be on this summer as far as I know. Seems like nobody really knows what’s up there.”
The last episode of The Chase aired in July 2023, and there has been no update from ABC on whether or not the game show will return.
“Uh oh. Hope that Ken didn’t just spoil that Chase was cancelled,” added another.
“Could be wrong but I doubt they’d air it if he revealed someone that the network didn’t want revealed,” another user replied.
“Considering the last new episode aired like two years ago, I don’t think it’s a shock to that many people at this point,” said another. “The fact Victoria corrected him gives me a small ray of hope that it might come back. The fact that two Chasers are in this, and a former one as the host, might make ABC rethink things.”
Another wrote, “Ken misspoke and Victoria got fake-offended. It’s not that deep.”
In addition to Groce, reigning Masters champion James Holzhauer also serves as one of the Chasers, alongside fellow former Jeopardy! stars Buzzy Cohen and Brandon Blackwell. Jennings also served as a Chaser before taking over as the host of Jeopardy! in 2021.
Former Jeopardy! player Jennifer Quail commented on the Reddit thread, writing, “Just based on conversations at JIT, Victoria and Brandon both speak as if the Chase is an ongoing thing.”
Groce is one of the six competitors on Jeopardy! Masters alongside Holzhauer, Roach, Amodio, Yogesh Raut, and Amy Schneider. The tournament airs in prime-time on ABC.
Would you like to see The Chase return? Let us know in the comments section below.
Jeopardy! Masters, 8/7c, ABC