Millersville Veterinarian Nikhil Joshi Makes Strong Showing On “Jeopardy!”

Nikhil Joshi was not nervous as he stood under bright lights before an audience of 100, staring down a board of challenging questions as he appeared on the set of “America’s favorite quiz show.” He was totally in the zone while he competed on “Jeopardy!”

By taping time, the anxiety had already come and gone.

“The nerve-wracking part was actually as soon as I got the call from them on February 28,” Joshi, a Millersville resident, shared. “They called me in the afternoon (and asked), ‘Do you want to be on “Jeopardy!”’ And I thought, ‘Oh yeah! That’s wonderful. For sure.’ And then I immediately panicked and realized that I didn’t know enough and that I didn’t want to make a fool of myself on national TV.”

In early June, “Jeopardy!” viewers discovered that Joshi did in fact know enough, and that he certainly did not make a fool of himself. He appeared on three episodes of the decades-old game show, winning $20,199.

Joshi shared that it was a multi-step process to appear on the show he has watched with his brother for as long as he can remember.

The first step is one that tens of thousands of people take each year: completing the “Jeopardy!” online “Anytime Test,” which Joshi said consists of 50 varied questions that TV hopefuls have about eight seconds each to answer.

If one does well, they do it again – but on a Zoom meeting moderated by a producer. If an aspiring contestant does well a second time, they move on to a gameplay audition on Zoom in which a mock game is played in a group of three. Producers then interview “Jeopardy!” hopefuls about their hobbies, career, family and other topics to emulate the contestant interview portion of the live show. Contestants are then selected at the conclusion of the audition process.

Joshi had a little over a month to prepare for his early April taping at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, California, which also houses the set of “Wheel of Fortune.” He wasted no time.

“I made a list of things I needed to study and systematically went through them. So, I was very stressed those first few weeks after I got the call,” he recalled. “I thought, ‘I have so much to do and learn,’ and every little fact that I would learn, I would try to tuck it away for ‘Jeopardy!’”

He bought a book about the game show buzzer and practiced at home with a pen as he watched the show. Joshi believes his buzzer practice paid off.

“Jeopardy!” films a week’s worth of episodes in a day. Joshi and the rest of the contestants slated for episodes to air the first week of June gathered early in the morning at the studio to rehearse, complete paperwork, soak in a few words of wisdom from host Ken Jennings, and then wait their turn.

Joshi first appeared on the June 5 episode, and his was the fourth to be taped that day. His wife Katie Bardales, a high school friend who had competed on “Jeopardy!” in 2016, and his friend’s wife were in the audience. Before taking the stage, Joshi felt comfortable.

“I realized no matter what happens, I’m proud of myself for making it on the show, and hoped for the best, but I wasn’t expecting anything,” he said. “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win, but I was obviously thrilled when I did.”

In the first episode, Joshi was introduced as a Montville, New Jersey, native and shared the interesting fact that Katie had talked him into hiking Mt. Kilimanjaro, which they did in 2023. It was a low-scoring game all around, as 19 questions stumped all three contestants – as did Final Jeopardy. Yet, with $5,400, Joshi advanced to the next episode.

For the June 6 episode, Joshi told viewers about writing for the University of Maryland’s student newspaper, The Diamondback, as a hip-hop critic while completing his undergraduate degree. He ran a category, “Volcanoes Are So Hot Right Now,” and racked up an impressive $16,200 heading into Final Jeopardy. Though the answer to the last question evaded him, Joshi’s low wager kept him in the game, and he walked away from that episode with another $14,799.

Understandably, Joshi admits he did not sleep well before returning to the studio to tape a third episode, and he believed that impacted his buzzer speed. He went into Final Jeopardy with $10,400, but fellow contestant Jackie Rogoff of California had already amassed $23,600, leaving Joshi and contestant Ted Nyman, also of California, with no chance of eclipsing Rogoff’s total even if they wagered everything.

In his final “Jeopardy!” appearance, which aired June 9, Joshi shared that he used to work in a 24/7 veterinary hospital, and on days when there were no patients, he would head to the front desk and watch “Jeopardy!” to the amusement of his colleagues, who were impressed by his breadth of knowledge.

The top highlight of his experience on “Jeopardy!” was meeting his fellow contestants, followed by seeing “behind the scenes” how everything works on the show he has loved for so many years.

“These people are kind of just like me,” Joshi said of the other contestants. “They’re very down-to-earth, easygoing, but also smart – we like trivia – so it was fun to meet them.”

Since taping, he has kept in touch with them through a group message thread, and he recently met one of them who resides in Washington, D.C., for dinner.

Joshi works full-time for Merck Animal Health, functioning as a consultant for vet clinics in the Mid-Atlantic region. He also works part-time at a vet clinic in Millersville. Not surprisingly, he and Katie have a dog, Daisy, and a cat named Hamilton.

In his free time, Joshi enjoys playing golf; staying active through cycling and hiking; and traveling with Katie. The couple tries to travel internationally at least once a year, and they enjoy many local and day trips as well.

For “Jeopardy!” fans who dream of one day appearing on the show, Joshi had a word of encouragement: “If you have any interest in trivia or any interest at all in ‘Jeopardy!’ you should take the test. There’s no harm in taking the test and seeing what happens,” he said.

“I think the biggest thing I learned from this is, I never thought that ‘Jeopardy!’ would be possible. Actually, I always thought my brother would be on the show, because he’s older than me, I think he knows more than me, but I gave it a shot and it ended up working out,” Joshi shared. “Obviously I’m not a super champion, I’m not Ken Jennings, I’m not a millionaire because of ‘Jeopardy!’ and I never will be, but it was a fun experience regardless and I’m glad I took that leap and did it.”