'Jeopardy!' Champ Amy Schneider Dishes On Her Pre-Game Ritual!

Current "Jeopardy!" champion Amy Schneider is on a winning streak!

As it turns out, when Amy was only a student in the 8th grade, her class voted her to be the most likely to compete on "Jeopardy!"

Not only has Amy become a "Jeopardy!" contestant, but she has also become a "Jeopardy!" champion, with a 30-day total of $1,057,800 dollars as of Tuesday's game! Amy is only a few days shy of beating the 32-game win streak that was set by James Holzhauer in 2019.

If she is able to beat his record, she is going to be facing Matt Amodio's record of 38 wins, which he set when season 38 resumed in September 2021. If she is able to beat his record, then she is up against the current host, Ken Jennings, and his win streak of 74 games, which he set back in 2004!

Although it may seem like an insurmountable challenge, Amy is up to the task! In a new interview with NPR, Amy talked about what it was like to beat five-time champion Andrew He in order to become the fifth "Jeopardy!" millionaire in the game show's history!

Schneider called the experience of appearing on the show "overwhelming," especially since she had watched it with her parents growing up in Ohio ever since she was a child.

"It was just kind of overwhelming, just something I've been wanting my whole life and to get it so unexpectedly at the last second was just really a special feeling," Schneider explained.

"I can't ever remember not watching Jeopardy!" she continued. "It was one of the things that was just on every night, and I would watch with my parents."

Although plenty of contestants might be nervous about defending their title again and again every episode, Amy has a sure-fire strategy to keep her nerves in check!

"To sort of pump myself up before each game ... standing at the podium, I kind of run through the lyrics of Eminem's 'Lose Yourself,'" she revealed. "It's so fitting to the moment because I really do have to lose myself in the moment, like he says."

Her pre-game ritual must be working, because, in addition to becoming the fourth "Jeopardy!" millionaire from regular-season play, Amy also holds the titles of the female contestant with the most consecutive wins and the highest earnings. She will also be the show's first openly trans contestant to compete in the Tournament of Champions later this year.

Although Amy Schneider has faced her fair share of harassment from Twitter trolls, she says that most of the feedback that she's been getting has been extremely positive, especially from former contestants.

"It really is a much smaller percentage of negative feedback that I've been getting," Amy explained. "I thought it would be worse. And as anyone should on the internet, I stay out of the comment sections, and that's good for my mental health."

However, there is one interaction that she had with a fan that Schneider described as "one of the best things I could hear."

Just before the new year began, Amy finally clapped back at some of the negative harassment that she had been receiving. Although she is the first woman to have the most wins and highest earnings in "Jeopardy!" history, some fans say that the title doesn't count because she's trans.

"I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man," Amy tweeted. "Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind."

However, one fan explained how Amy's impact on "Jeopardy!" may be helping the trans community more than she knows.

"Somehow, after 2-3 years of conversation, you being on Jeopardy every night has taught my dad to be accepting of trans people," one fan wrote. "You're the first person he's used correct pronouns with, a 83-year-old man, saying 'this isn't too hard.' Thanks for your message of love."

"That is just one of the best things I could hear," Amy said of the tweet. "That I've been able to do that, give people that experience, and if I'm helping them, that's what I want to do most of all."