Ashley Chan‘s Tournament of Champions dreams ended on Thursday night when she lost to Paolo Pasco. Now, the Jeopardy! champion is speaking out about her experiences on the show, what she spent her earnings on, her fellow contestants, and more.
Chan, who is a publicist at Dala Communications and a yoga teacher in her spare time, qualified for the TOC after she went on a four-game winning streak in December 2024, taking home $69,400. She told Culture Map Dallas that she “went the responsible route” with her winnings. “I get asked all the time what I spent the money on, and I think people are disappointed I don’t have a more fun story,” she said.
In the TOC, she competed in the quarterfinals against W. Kamau Bell and Alex DeFrank. Chan advanced to the semifinals, where she played against Pasco and Cameron Berry. She ended in third place and did not advance to the finals.
Her hometown of Lewisville, Texas, has declared February 3 as Ashley Chan Day in her honor. She told the outlet that she gets recognized walking down the street and her yoga students are her “biggest hype team.”
“I still can’t believe I was able to return! Just getting on to Jeopardy the first time was a dream come true, then winning multiple days was unbelievable. I was just thrilled to be able to go back at all, and even more excited to get the chance to be in TOC,” she told the outlet.
Related
Chan, who married her husband, Zachary in 2021, couldn’t do any special prep against her competitors since she didn’t know who she would be facing until that day, but she watched them all compete, so she knew what she was getting into. “I did practice my wagering strategy both times in terms of daily doubles and final Jeopardy, since that’s one of the few things you are in control of,” she said.
The game show contestant shared that she wasn’t intimidated by the caliber of contestants in the TOC. “I went in just ready to have a good time. TOC actually felt less intimidating because I had already won four games in my initial run, so getting to play again felt like icing on the cake,” she said.
‘Despite losing, Chan shared that she is in a groupchat with the TOC contestants. “We all had a great time spending the week together, hanging out in the green room, and supporting each other. It’s such a wild experience being a Jeopardy! champion and being in TOC, and I think we all were so excited to be there and make the most of it,” she said.
“I really cannot stress how much fun I had! Just getting on to the show was my dream, and the fact that I was able to win Jeopardy, period, then get the opportunity to return for TOC is still mind-blowing,” Chan ended.
Jeopardy!, weekdays, check local listings, stream next day on Hulu and Peacock
