It was the best of times and it was the worst of times.
Current "Jeopardy!" champ Matt Amodio is on a winning streak that has put him on pace with some of the greatest contestants in the show's history. Despite that, a lot of the attention has been placed on the show's revolving door of hosts, following the departure of former permanent replacement host Mike Richards.
Richards, who was initially named as Alex Trebek's replacement, stepped down from his hosting duties last month due to the uproar over past comments he made. Still, Richards will remain on-screen during the first week of the show's 38th season. That's because the episodes were taped prior to his departure.
However, Amodio is not letting the drama affect his game.
In an interview with the Washington Post, Amodio said the last thing he's thinking about in the middle of a game is who's hosting. "I’ve had people say, ‘Oh man, you’ve moved on to your fourth host, that has to be difficult.’ And I would say, ‘Well, you’re right, but I didn’t even realize that, necessarily.’ ‘Cause I’m trying to pull these really obscure facts out of my brain, and that takes all the mental energy I can afford at the moment," Amodio told the post.
Amodia is currently third all-time on the show's highest winning list. He sits behind two of the gameshow's legends, James Holzhauer who has won $2,462,216 and Ken Jennings who has won $2,520,700.
After racking up 18 wins last season, Amodia kicked off the latest season on Monday with another win.
