Who won Jeopardy! Second chance on Thursday, December 25, 2025?

Jeopardy! Second chance tournament finals are underway. 

The finals will be broadcast in two parts. 

The first part of the final aired on December 25, 2025. 

The second part, which will determine the tournament winner, will be aired on December 26, 2025. 

The winner of the finals will then have the opportunity to compete in the Champion Wildcard. 

Jeopardy! Part 1 semifinalists were Guy Branum, Michelle Tsai, and Melanie Hirsch. 

There was no winner announced in this episode, as this was Part 1 of the Finals. 

Jeopardy! Second Chance recap: Michelle led in part 1 of the finals

Host Ken Jennings started the show by stating:

“If you are tuning in with your family on this holiday, I think you are about to open a great Christmas gift of a game because we have three incredible players and newly crowned champions back to compete in this week’s finals.” 

He added:

“They’ve already proved they are worthy of a second chance. Now they are hoping to move on to the next level, Champions Wildcard. Good luck, players. Let’s get right into game 1 of this two-day final.” 

He revealed the categories for the first Jeopardy round. 

They were:

“History on TV, On the Bookshelf, Fast Food, Give Me a Ring, The Movies and Homonymbly Yours” 

Melanie started the first round by picking “On the Bookshelf” for $800. 

She had a bit of a rough start, losing $800 after giving the wrong answer. 

But Melanie quickly redeemed herself by hitting Daily Double. 

The Daily Double clue was:

“Anthony Swofford’s experience in the first Gulf War led to his memoir called this, also the nickname of a marine.” 

The answer was:

“What is Jarhead?” 

Melanie answered correctly and won $1,200. 

The scores were as follows:

Melanie: $5,400

Michelle at $2,000

Guy at $4,200

The scores at the end of the first round:

Michelle at $4,800

Melanie at $5,600 

Guy at $6,000.

Both Melanie and Guy were closely competing with each other. 

The categories in Double Jeopardy! round were:

“People & Places, The Kaiser’s College of Musical Knowledge, Science & Nature, Playing the Numbers, Comedians on TV and Tough 8-Letter Words.” 

Michelle Tsai was given the first chance to pick the category. 

She started with Science and Nature for $1,600. 

Michelle hit the second Daily Double. 

She bet all her winnings, and the clue stated:

“A readjustment of the frontiers of Italy was 9th on a list totalling this number of proposals in 1918.” 

The correct answer was:

“What is 14?” 

She answered correctly and won $12,800. 

The final Daily Double also went to Michelle. 

She bet $3,000, and the clue stated:

“Outside of India, Canada has one of the largest populations of followers of this religion founded by Guru Nanak.” 

The correct answer was:

“What is Sikhism?” 

She answered this one correctly, too, and her score went to $19,400. 

The Double Jeopardy! The round ended with Michelle at $24,600, Guy at $8,000, and Melanie at $6,000. 

The final Jeopardy category was 18th-century literature. 

The clue was:

“In this work, the boys and girls would venture to come and play hide-and-seek in my hair.” 

The correct answer was:

“What is Gulliver’s Travels?” 

Melanie and Guy answered correctly, whereas Michelle answered incorrectly. 

The scores at the end of Part 1 of the second-chance final were:

Melanie at $12,000

Michelle at $19,200 

Guy at $16,000.

The game continues in part 2 of Jeopardy! Second chance finals. 

Stay tuned for more such updates.