Bill McKinney Explains Shock Defeat & ‘Unfair’ Aspect of New Champ

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Thursday, December 12 episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy!’s reigning champ, Bill McKinney, had won two of his three games in dominant runaways, so it was poetic, if a bit unexpected, that he lost in one. On Thursday night, the bungee-jumping, ambidextrous dad-of-two was handily defeated by Ashley Chan- and he got candid about meeting his match on social media.

McKinney, a VP of restaurants and bars originally from Boston, Massachusetts, entered with a three-day total of $46,800, cementing his place in the 2026 postseason as the 2025 Tournament of Champions cutoff is up. He faced Chan, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas, and Alex Cousins, a writer and editor from Buffalo, New York.

In the Jeopardy! round, Cousins drew a blank on the “America Before 1800” Daily Double seeking “Mason & Dixon,” taking him back to the starting line. McKinney missed a bridge clue with the answer of “Colorado,” which was in the clue, resulting in some ribbing from host Ken Jennings. Chan surged to a lead of $6,000, the champ held $4,000, and Cousins trailed with $600.

In Double Jeopardy, McKinney’s opponents continued to control much of the game, which he seemed painfully aware of. Cousins quickly found the second Daily Double, got the “Abbreviated Magazines” clue correct for “Scientific American” and a $2,000 boost. The last Daily Double loomed, and Chan built up a sizable lead while the champ appeared on his heels, unable to crack into the game.

Chan finally located it under the “National Birds” category, and Jennings remarked, “You’ve pulled into quite the lead late in the game, Ashley.” Opting to wager $2,000, she was correct with “Andean Condor.” In doing so, she flew to a runaway. Going into Final Jeopardy, she had a guaranteed victory with $15,600, McKinney had $6,400, and Cousins had $5,800.

The “TV Props” Final clue was, “A prop central to the title character on this ’60s sitcom began as a special Christmas edition whiskey decanter.” It was a triple-stumper as no one correctly responded “I Dream of Jeannie.”

McKinney was “on the right track,” Jennings noted crossing out his initial response and correctly writing the title character “Jeanie.” Chan, who wagered $0 to win and oust the champ with $15,600. “Way to go!” Jennings closed.

Fans flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, reacting to the blowout loss and to the new champ and to what some claimed was yet another slightly convoluted Final Jeopardy clue.

“I’m confused by that Final Jeopardy. It asked for the character in the clue but the answer was the title of the show?” one fan wrote.

“No, it said ‘on this ‘60s sitcom,’ so it was looking for the show title,” explained another.

A third offered what they felt was a more clear version, “One way the writers could help avoid this kind of confusion is to put what they’re asking for up front, in this case: ‘On this ’60s sitcom, a prop central to the title character began as a special Christmas edition whiskey decanter.’”

“Yeah that makes more sense imo. Now that I read the clue here it’s not as confusing but live I had the same thought process as Bill with “Jeanie,’” wrote a fourth.

McKinney buzzed in to the thread to share his thoughts on his defeat, which he chalked up to the difficulties of getting through a tape day. He also praised the new champ, joking it was “unfair” how calm she seemed in the greenroom.

“By the time this one came around I was so, so tired,” he began. “I have a ton of respect for anyone who can go on a long run, because it’s exhausting to keep going up there. I might have been a smidge slower on the buzzer as a result, but mainly Ashley and Alex were just super fast. So many clues I wanted to ring in on that they beat me on.”