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East Tennessee woman knocks off Jeopardy! reigning champ

Scarlett Sims, of Oak Ridge, won her first appearance on Jeopardy! 

An Oak Ridge woman won her first appearance on Jeopardy! Thursday, knocking off 12-time reigning champion Austin Rogers.

Scarlett Sims won Thursday night's show, correctly answering all five questions in a category about East Tennessee's own Dolly Parton along the way.

Rogers, who has been a fan favorite during his run on the show, tweeted support for Sims after the episode aired, saying her win was "so deserved."

During an interview on WBIR's Live at Five at Four Thursday before the episode aired, Sims said competing on Jeopardy! has been a life-long dream.

"I’ve always wanted to be on Jeopardy! probably since I was a kid and I watched it at home," she said. "And I’ve taken the online test basically every opportunity that I had to do it. But like 10s of 1,000s of people take the online test, so even if you do well, there’s no guarantee that you’ll get called back to audition for the show."


Sims kept taking the online test, and eventually, was called to audition for the show.

She auditioned in Nashville, and about a month-and-a-half later, she received another phone call to compete on the show!

She wore a good luck charm when she taped her Jeopardy! episodes - yellow knee-high socks that say "BEER."

Sims will be on Friday's episode of Jeopardy! It airs at 7:30 p.m. on WBIR.

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