'Jeopardy!' Contestant Jokes That He Was 'Bullied' by Mayim Bialik

By Ashley Turner

A Jeopardy! contestant recently joked about the show and host Mayim Bialik "bullying" him after poking fun at his epic gaffe. Michael Toughill's mistake came on the June 7 episode of Final Jeopardy, "Writing Old & New," after Mayim Bialik read the clue, "This 2013 bestseller shares its title with the first section of a poem from 7 centuries before."

The clue left all of the Jeopardy! contestants baffled. The most viral response on social media, however, was Toughill's. He wrote, "What is Twilight: New Moon?" Though Toughill was not satisfied with his answer, the audience laughed, as did Bialik when she corrected him.

Although Toughill's answer was incorrect, since New Moon was published in 2006, it was particularly well received by Jeopardy! fans on Twitter. Two days later, one of the contestants had trouble suppressing their laughter on the June 9 episode when a clue said, "This book appears between Twilight & Eclipse." They immediately noticed the ribbing behind the clue.

Jeopardy! viewers and Toughill responded to the episode on Twitter. Michael jokingly said that the game show and Bialik had bullied him for giving the wrong answer.

"Have you ever been bullied by your favorite TV show?" Toughill wrote in a tweet referring to the Blossom alum. "Have you ever felt #Jeopardy or @missmayim are personally trolling you even though your battle wounds are just days old? If so, you may be eligible for a cash settlement!"

Many users replied to the post, finding the situation amusing and appreciating Toughill's sense of humor. One commented, "It does feel like that clue was written specifically in response to you, although the timing would make that impossible." 

Another poster found Toughill's blunder helpful: "I only got this one correct because of you. Thank you." 

"We watched the episodes back to back. How crazy. Appreciated your sense of humor and good spirit," a user tweeted.

Bialik is hosting Jeopardy! for the fifth week after Ken Jennings announced he would be gone for "months" on a hiatus. A permanent host will be announced by the end of Season 38 in July 2022, when Jennings is expected to return to the show. 

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