Jeopardy! Champ Christine Whelchel Ditches Her Wig to 'Normalize What Cancer Recovery Looks Like'

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Christine Whelchel is cancer-free, and now wig-free!

The piano teacher and church organist from Spring Hill, Tennessee, is the current Jeopardy! champ, and as she explained in her first appearance on the show last Wednesday, she's in remission from breast cancer after undergoing treatments last year.

"I was diagnosed in March of 2021, and one of the first things I did a couple of weeks after being diagnosed was take the Jeopardy! test," Whelchel told host Ken Jennings during the interview portion of the show. "And I ended up getting my audition the night before my surgery in May."

Jennings said he hoped her surgery went well, which Whelchel confirmed, and that she's "cancer-free as of right now."

Whelchel racked up two more wins on Thursday and Friday, and then decided to change up her look on Monday night, ditching her wig to show off her hair regrowth.

Jennings started off her interview saying that "if you watched last week you might notice that Christine looks a little different today — tell us about your look."

"After the winnings, I decided that I didn't need to hide behind a wig anymore and I wanted to normalize what cancer recovery looks like," Whelchel explained.

Christine Whelchel
Christine Whelchel

Jeopardy!

"Well, you look fabulous," Jennings said. "Congratulations on your recovery and your success on Jeopardy! so far."

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That success continued Monday night as Whelchel went into Final Jeopardy! with a solid lead, in possession of $11,800, with the second and third place contestants at $7,000 and $1,400, respectively. Whelchel was then the only one to get the correct respond of "What is Sarajevo?" to win the game, and to give her a four-day total of $73,602.

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The Jeopardy! Twitter account celebrated Whelchel after her win, tweeting out: "A strong Jeopardy! player and an even stronger person. ❤️"

Whelchel will go for her fifth win — which would land her a spot in the annual Tournament of Champions — on Tuesday.