'Jeopardy!' Champ Brad Rutter Talks 'Brotherhood' With Host Ken Jennings

"Jeopardy!" champion Brad Rutter is opening up about his relationship with "Jeopardy!" host Ken Jennings.

The two competed against each other in the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) tournament in 2020, which Ken won. They both became trivia masters on "The Chase," although Ken left the show after its second season in order to co-host "Jeopardy!" with "The Big Bang Theory" actress Mayim Bialik.

Brad opened up on his relationship with Ken over the years, describing it as a "brotherhood" while still noting that the two are "very competitive."

In a new interview with the New York Post on Monday, Brad Rutter opened up about what it was like backstage in the Greatest of All Time tournament, which also featured James Holzhauer competing.

“It’s both a brotherhood and it’s very competitive,” Rutter said. “If the three of us are in the green room at the ‘GOAT [‘Greatest of All Time’] Tournament,’ we’re being cordial to each other. We’re chatting, but we’re really focused and really intense, and it’s not much pleasantries."

The 45-year-old trivia guru went on to admit, “Any kind of conversation we’re having is just really to make ourselves less nervous." Rutter has won the most money out of anyone who has ever competed on the game show, earning a total of $4,938,436. Ken comes in second with $4,370,700 while James finishes up the all-time winnings category with $3,462,216.

All three appeared on the ABC trivia game show "The Chase," where things were a lot less tense behind the scenes since they were competing against other people and not each other. “Backstage on ‘The Chase,’ we’re just joking around and having fun and making fun of each other," Rutter said before joking, “On ‘The Chase,’ I get paid either way.”

“I’m still answering trivia questions but I just want to get into a good frame of mind and banter with host Sarah [Haines] and the contestants, as opposed to ‘Jeopardy!’ which is so intense on every clue,” he added.

In 2011, both Ken and Brad famously competed against the IBM computer system known as Watson. Watson easily beat both champs. When asked if he would ever return to compete against a newer AI system, like ChatGPT, Rutter replied, “No way. They’re not getting me on that again.”

“I imagine the current version of Watson is 10 times better than what they were putting out against me and Ken, and it beat the crap out of me and Ken 10 years ago. So, no ChatGPT," he said. “ChatGPT could play Watson and I’ll host it. I would definitely be up for that.”

Although Rutter has not competed on "Jeopardy!" since the 2020 GOAT tournament, fans were disappointed that he did not appear in the 2023 "Jeopardy! Masters" tournament, which featured James and several famous faces from season 38.

However, on the latest "Inside Jeopardy!" podcast, producer Sarah Foss hinted that Brad Rutter could make an appearance for the 2024 Masters tournament. “I know our listeners know we got this little thing called the JIT, the ‘Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament,’” Foss said, referring to the new tournament that decides who will earn a spot in the "Masters" tournament.

“Many of you wondered, ‘Where’s Brad Rutter? How is he not part of ‘Masters?’” Foss continued. “And yes, Brad Rutter has made more money on ‘Jeopardy!’ than any other contestant in history; those stats are so impressive. So what we now wanna see is, how is Brad right now? Can he come to the JIT, competing against some other greats, and prove that he deserves a spot as one of the current greats in ‘Masters’ next year?”

Although Brad said that no one has approached him about appearing on "Jeopardy!" again, he would be open for another chance to compete. “‘Jeopardy!’ is about the most fun you can have, maybe second to playing ‘The Chase,'” he said.

Although plenty of fans are also hoping that Ken Jennings will compete again, especially given James' request for a rematch, the current co-host of the game show has insisted that he has retired from competition. Fans can read Ken's full remarks on his retirement by clicking here.