Outside of its celebrity spinoff, it’s pretty rare to recognize one of Jeopardy ! 's contestants from another corner of the pop culture world, so Survivor fans were in for quite a surprise when Drew Basile showed up on the Alex Trebek Stage on June 19. The Survivor 45 cast member was known to rub some people the wrong way with his ego on the long-running CBS reality show, and it seems he’s having the same issue on one of the best game shows of all time as his Jeopardy! winnings continue to build. Drew Basile made an immediate splash on Jeopardy! , coming in as a “giant-killer” and unseating 15-day champ Adriana Harmeyer.
His run so far — he had six wins and $111,601 going into the June 27 episode — has continued to be dramatic, as he’s won in runaway fashion (i.e. having more than double his competitors heading into Final Jeopardy!) and in close games, including one that went to a tie-breaker.
Some fans, however, are not entertained by the confident 23-year-old. According to one X (Twitter) user: I didn’t like Drew when he beat Jeopardy super champion Adriana Harmeyer but I really dislike him now after his obnoxious fist-pumping following tonight’s tie-breaker. I completely understand being a little bitter about Drew Basile ending Adriana Harmeyer’s run.
As a daily Jeopardy! viewer myself, I admit to going into a brief period of mourning. But more than that, it does seem to be that same cocky attitude that Drew showed on Survivor — where he called himsel.
