Jeopardy! champion Matt Amodio responds to criticism of his annoying quirk

Entertainment Weekly

Amadio has been dubbed the "most annoying contestant ever" for using "what is" when an answer is a person instead of "who is." "I don't necessarily want to say too much about that," Amodio tells EW. "I guess I just want to say that I hope nobody's offended by it. I do hear some people say that it's disrespectful to the game, and I would counter that if there was a Jeopardy fan club ranking, I think I would have a strong case to be number one Jeopardy fan. I live and breathe the show, I love every aspect of it, and so I'm definitely not doing it out of any disrespect or undermining of the show." As for being on set for LeVar Burton's entire run, Amodio says: "That was amazing. He is an awesome guy. He just exudes a calmness and a coolness to him that I envy as a person. And he was incredibly gracious. He clearly wanted to do well, and I think the fact that he wants to be selected as the permanent host is incredibly obvious, because of how much care he put into it. I was honored to meet him."