‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Amy Schneider Opened Up About Her Decision To Not Alter Her Voice On TV

Amy Schneider’s incredible Jeopardy! run came to an end after 40 wins. Although people were beside themselves to see her head off into the sunset, rest assured that Amy’s taking $1,382,800 in winnings with her, so it’s all good. Also, she certainly will be able to relax a little bit after the exhausting process of keeping her player status secret from everyone, even family and friends. And Amy sat down for a weekend-long interview with The New York Times, which yielded some wonderful nuggets, like Amy confirming that, yes, she briefly cried after losing her 41st game, but “[i]t wasn’t just a feeling of sadness, there was a sense of relief.”

Racking up five wins per day sounds “exhausting,” alright. Amy, who’s the winningest woman in the show’s history, also revealed a semi-strategic decision that she made along the way. Much like she judiciously used her platform to call out the GOP and wear a pin of support for the community, she also chose “how she wanted to sound” on TV. In the end, Amy went with what felt right for her, partially because she wanted to focus on her gameplay and partially because she wanted to send a message to trans women:

“I’ve got a more feminine voice when I really want to, and I’d sort of been planning on using that voice on TV,” she said. But she ultimately decided that consciously altering her voice could affect her gameplay and chose to speak in her usual register. She’s proud of that decision.

“Trans women watching can see me with my voice as it is and see me being OK with it,” she said.

The New York Times notes that Amy once found her voice to be “a source of dysphoria,” but she’s now looking to get into voice acting and has signed with the CAA. And as of interview time, the former engineering manager was still waiting on her Jeopardy! check. From there, the sky is truly the limit, and Amy’s second-place in consecutively won games will surely be secure for awhile. Meanwhile, Amy’s successor on Jeopardy!, Chicago librarian Rhone Talsma, will pick up on Thursday night to defend champ status.