[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the April 24 episode of Jeopardy!]
Returning champion Emma Hill Kepron, a librarian, shared a fun fact about her previous time on a TV set on the latest episode of Jeopardy! (but that time, she didn’t walk away with any money).
Emma returned to face off against new contestants Année Toussea, an editor, and Dillon Hupp, a development director, with a two-day total of $26,000. It was during her interview in the middle of the Jeopardy round that host Ken Jennings shared that Jeopardy! wasn’t the first set she’d been on, though it was “the first you’ve intentionally [been on].”
Emma explained, confirming, “yeah, the first authorized. I was in Northern Ireland, traveling with my family. My aunt was driving us around and we came to this property that had ‘No Trespassing,’ ‘Trespassers will be Prosecuted’ [signs]. She blithely opened the gate and just drove us in, saying, ‘I know the farm owner, I know the property owner.’”
It turned out to be a set for the long-running drama Game of Thrones (which aired eight seasons from 2011 through 2019). “I think it was maybe Castle Black, it was the exterior,” Emma continued. “I still fear prosecution from HBO for that.”
Jennings then joked with her about seeing her in the background as an extra, and Emma went with it, saying, “I was afraid if they caught us, they would make us be extras.” That would be “the real punishment,” Jennings said to cap off the interview.
Emma’s time as the Jeopardy! champ came to an end with this episode. Though she was leading going into Final Jeopardy — she had $14,700 over Dillon’s $14,200 and Année’s $3,200 — she did not answer it correctly. (In the category U.S. Geography, the clue read, “Interstate 25 connects these 2 state capitals, 1st & 2nd in elevation, & in between runs through No. 3, Denver.”) Dillon was the only to get it (Cheyenne and Santa Fe) and ended with $21,999. Emma came in second with $7,700.
Jeopardy!, Weekdays, check local listings