James Holzhauer Breaks Silence After Losing ‘Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time’ Title to Ken Jennings

James Holzhauer continues to be a class act in the wake of his loss to Ken Jennings in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament. The fan-favorite contestant, 36, took to social media Tuesday night to congratulate Jennings, 45, on his million-dollar victory after Jennings became the first contestant to win three games in the special tournament.

“I’m sure we all wished it could have gone seven nights, but we got the next big thing: a dominant performance with a clear winner to settle the GOAT debate,” Holzhauer tweeted.

“Ken has graciously said he ‘had to play like James to beat James,’ but the entire basis of my strategy was ‘let’s pretend I’m playing against a [Ken Jennings] every game, just in case I actually am.’ (In my 33rd game, [Jeopardy Emma] was equal to Ken on his best day,)” he continued.

“Thanks to [Ken Jennings] and [Brad Rutter] for a hell of a match. Ken and Brad are great [Jeopardy] players but even better people, and have been incredibly good sports about my kayfabe feuding and trash talk.”

Holzhauer also thanked ABC and “everyone on the Jeopardy team for everything they do, and especially to Alex Trebek for gutting through the fight of his life to deliver an absolute A+ performance in prime time.”

“And thanks to you, the fans, for making [Jeopardy! GOAT] a smash hit. When they put me back on TV someday, it will be your fault,” he concluded. “What can I say? [Jeopardy James] out.”

Holzhauer also shared several memes poking fun at his loss and praising Jennings as the all-time champion.

Jeopardy! GOAT was a first-to-three tournament for three of the quiz show’s record holders to settle the debate once and for all about the greatest contestant to take the Jeopardy stage. Jennings won the fourth and final round during Tuesday’s episode, with him, Holzhauer and Brad Rutter burning up the board with big-money clues first and rarely firing off a wrong answer.

Host Alex Trebek presented Jennings with a trophy and named him the recipient of the $1 million cash prize, as well as lifelong bragging rights. While Jennings has been a Jeopardy! darling for nearly 20 years, first bursting onto the scene in 2004, Holzhauer became the proverbial new kid on the block last year, racking up 33 straight wins from April to June.