A “Jeopardy!” contestant revealed they are battling stage 4 cancer during Tuesday night’s game.
Chris Burge, a high school teacher from Farmers Branch, Texas, shocked viewers with his cancer news during the segment where host Ken Jennings talks to the contestants.
“Chris, understand you’re facing a health challenge right now that you wanted to talk about,” said Jennings, 50.
“Yeah, I’ve been fighting Stage IV colon cancer since May,” Burge told the host.
Jennings, surprised over Burge’s confession, simply responded, “Oh wow.”
Burge then advocated for people to get checked for cancer.
“Under young adult diagnoses have increased a lot in recent years,” he explained. “Definitely encourage people not to ignore any kind of symptoms. Definitely push to get tested, especially if you have any family history of it.”
“That’s a great word to get out there,” Jennings told Burge. “Thank you so much, Chris.”
After the Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds, Burge was in third place with 1,600. Ahead of him were Mikey McCullough, a librarian from Baltimore, Maryland with $20,200, and Paul Clauson, a tax analyst from Madison Heights, Michigan with $11,000.
The Final Jeopardy clue was: “At 800 West Main & 700 Central in this city are a company & a venue both involved in Triple Crowns.”
The answer was “Louisville” — and Burge was the only person to get it right.
However, McCullough only dropped $2,000 so she still won the game with $18,200.
In a Reddit thread for the episode, fans showed Burge support for revealing his cancer diagnosis on the game show.
“Kudos to Chris for using his time to help raise awareness about colorectal cancer which is being diagnosed in young adults long before screening starts at 45. Don’t ignore symptoms. Best wishes to you Chris,” one viewer wrote.
Another person said, “Here’s wishing Chris Burge a full and complete recovery. You performed well against two strong competitors, Chris, and I’m rooting for you. Refua Shlema! But also…tick off a few more bucket list items! Well done.”
“Chris, you did well too! All the best as you navigate your challenging diagnosis. Thank you for taking a moment to tout the importance of screening!” added a different fan.
Someone else wrote, “Chris sharing his diagnosis and battle hit close to home! I’m glad he took the opportunity to raise awareness. Colon cancer sucks! (All cancer sucks!)”
A fourth viewer praised Burge for his “inspiring” message about cancer.
“Jeopardy!” airs weekdays at 7 p.m. ET.