Who competed in Jeopardy! Second chance Tournament finals Part 1?

Jeopardy! Second chance finals began on December 25, 2025. 

The two-part finals will determine the contestant who will then advance to compete in the Champions Wildcard. 

For those unversed, Jeopardy! Second chance, as the name suggests, gives a chance to the players who have previously lost in the competition. 

The tournament gives them a second chance to redeem themselves in the game.

The contestants who are competing in Jeopardy! Second Chance finalists are Guy Branum, Michelle Tsai and Melanie Hirsch. 

Jeopardy! Second Chance Final: Meet the contestants

Guy Branum 

Guy is a comedian and writer. He belongs to West Hollywood, California. 

He competed on Jeopardy! in April 2025 and lost the competition to Mike Dawson. 

He talked about his experience in an interview with Out Now in October 2025. Guy said:

“There was a returning champion. He came in third, and I came in second. If this guy Mike Dawson from Portland had answered Final Jeopardy! incorrectly, I would have been the champion. But Mike is coming to my show, and I will fight him afterward. Wonderful.” 

He added:

“Also, it was an extreme situation — not only was Mike quicker on the buzzer than me, he’s also larger than I am. A very strange situation. I’d say it was the most trivia talent by weight that the Jeopardy! stage may have ever seen.”

Guy defeated Jasmine Zhou and Rachel Gray in the semifinals. 

He was in the second position by the end of Part 1 of Jeopardy! Second chance finals. 

Michelle Tsai 

Michelle Tsai is a tutor from Honolulu, Hawaii. 

She first appeared on Jeopardy! in May 2025. 

Michelle lost to Dan Moren in the episode. 

In Jeopardy! Second chance tournament, she competed against Molly Murrey and Bob Callen. 

She won the competition even after misspelling the final Jeopardy! answer.

This raised questions and concerns among fans who took to social media to celebrate their victory. 

Ken Jennings also talked about these concerns while chatting with her during the finals, Part 1. He said:

“When you won your semi finals game, there was a big outcry in our audience. You have some fans here, right?” 

Michelle became the highest scorer at the end of Part 1 of Jeopardy! Second chance finals.  

She earned $19,200. 

Melanie Hirsch 

Melanie is an attorney from Silver Springs, California. 

She appeared in the competition in March 2025 but lost the competition to a 4-day champion. 

Hirsch competed and won against Andrew Wang and Aaron Himmel in the semifinals of Jeopardy! Second chance.

Melanie also shared how the day she appeared on Jeopardy! turned out to be a professional low point for her. 

She explained:

“I work at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which is a federal agency that Congress set up after the financial crisis to make sure that the American are protected when they take out a mortgage or a credit card. The agency’s only been open for about 14 years. But in that time, we’ve gotten $21 billion back to consumers who were homeless.”

She further said:

“The morning of my tape date, I woke up. I checked my work mail, and there was a message from the head of the agency that said essentially CFPB, we’re shutting you down. You’re done. And I turned off my phone so I could come tape Jeopardy!” 

Stay tuned for more such updates.