“ Jeopardy! Brayden Smith, last 5-game champion under Alex Trebek, has died

Brayden Smith, the ruthless “Jeopardy!” contestant Alex Trebek nicknamed “Billy Buzzsaw” because of his ability to cut through his competition, has passed away. He was 24 years old.

Smith was a five-day champion and one of the last to compete in the Trebek “Jeopardy!” time. Many fans have compared him to James Holzhauer because of his tendency to land on the Daily Doubles and his courage to make big bets.

Trebek, who was then undergoing treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer, was visibly delighted with Smith’s abilities.

“Most impressive, I don’t know what to say,” said the 80-year-old host at one point during Smith’s run.

“I would like to think Brayden was a last gift to Alex Trebek. He loved a great champion ”, a“ Jeopardy! Viewer wrote, according to Decider.

“It makes me really happy that Alex Trebek had a competitor like Brayden on some of his last shows,” another “Jeopardy!” fan wrote.

Smith passed away on February 5 – about a month after his last “Jeopardy!” episode aired. A cause of death has not been revealed. According to his obituary, Smith dreamed of becoming a five-time champion in “Jeopardy!” – a requirement to participate in the show’s “Tournament of Champions”.

“We are sorry to share that our dear Brayden Smith recently passed away unexpectedly,” Smith’s mother Debbie Smith wrote on Twitter on Friday. “We are so grateful that Brayden was able to live his dream on @Danger. ”

Friday afternoon, “Jeopardy!” posted a tribute to the nominee, calling him “nice, funny and absolutely brilliant”.

Brayden Smith recently told The Ringer that he tried to participate in “Jeopardy!” at least a dozen times, by applying for Children’s Week and the teen and college tournaments.

“I remember being really bad at the start,” he said. “In my defense, I was in elementary school.”

Once he finally made it into the series, Smith took home $ 115,798 during his five-game winning streak. He was eager to participate in the “Tournament of Champions”, according to his obituary.

“These people are kind of my trivia idols and knowing that I’m going to be on the same metaphorical, literal stage they were on is really something special,” Smith said during a “Jeopardy!” interview. “Jeopardy!” Is so much better than anything I could have imagined. Every moment since I’ve been on the studio field has been a moment I wanted to come back to.

“I’m really grateful for everything, all the opportunities that I have had,” he added. “I was happy to have been able to show what I was capable of.”

Smith’s death comes about three months after Trebek’s death. The “Jeopardy!” the candidate said the late host was a “pillar” in his life.

“The best part for me was spending time with him,” Smith said during a “Jeopardy!” interview. “To finally be on stage with someone I saw five nights a week every week for over a decade was truly a dream come true.”

Tributes to Smith began to flood social media when news of his death broke, including a post from a recent colleague “Jeopardy!” champion Burt Thakur, who awards “Jeopardy!” with him learn English.