Danger! Host Ken Jennings admits Troy Meyer gave viewers “a scare” before the champion overcomes the nerve-wracking finals

DANGER! Champion Troy Meyer won his 5th game on Wednesday for a cool combined $170,000 after getting a serious fight for his money.

Presenter Ken Jennings, 48, admitted the rising star gave viewers “a scare” as the game was almost over in the final round.

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The returning champion was joined by David Maes, an attorney from Chicago, Illinois, and Kristina Zimmerman, a youth program coordinator from Seattle, Washington.

Troy is a music manager from Tampa, Florida who Jeopardy! Fans are humming as the gracious game show genius just keeps winning.

All Four of his previous wins were runaways, meaning he had enough money from Final Jeopardy to avoid getting caught.

Tonight that wasn’t the case and the uncertain win was one for the books.

“ALL DEPENDS ON TROY”

In Double Jeopardy! rival David went all-in on a daily double, got it right, and it was close in the end.

Troy had $18,400, David $16,400 and Kristina $9,200.

Final Jeopardy under Sights reads: “Pskov and Nizhny Novgorod are two of the cities that have a fortress by that name.”

Everyone was right with The Kremlin, so it depended on who bet what.

David bet $2001 and momentarily had $1 more than Troy.

“You’re ahead of our champion,” Ken announced as Kristina made a big, contorted face between them.

Ken turned to the running champion and told him, “It all depends on Troy’s response. Is it ‘Kremlin’?”

“Oh, it is!” explained a relieved-sounding Ken – Troy added a massive $14,401 to win by $32,801 and broke into a big smile.

“Troy survived a fright!” Ken closed as fans on Reddit freaked out over the milestone moment.

“EDGE OF MY SEAT!”

“Congratulations to David on a hard fought game that kept me on my toes!” one wrote.

“And of course to Troy, who secured his place in the Tournament of Champions and showed that the high expectations placed on him were fully justified.”

Another fan applauded: “That was an extremely strong group of three. Great game.”

A third wrote: “Amazing pushback from David and Kristina! Could easily have been a different result. Troy was definitely very beatable today.”

A fourth noted Troy’s fifth big hit puts him in successful company.

They claimed: “Yesterday Troy was after Amy [Schneider]’s 4-day total (137,600 to Amy’s 155,600).

Now Troy’s 5-day total is 170,401 compared to Amy’s 170,400, so Troy is ahead.”

ALL ABOUT TROY

Troy’s emotional victories have him looking up close to tears for the sweetest reason.

As Ken previously revealed, Troy’s mother passed away last year and they “shared a great love,” Jeopardy! together.

Troy also revealed on stage that his wife Genevieve was a contestant in 2009 – they met anonymously online while she was practicing for the competition.

Troy told The New York Times in her 2010 wedding announcement, “I was talking to friends and they thought I was absolutely crazy.”

They kept in touch while she prepared, but Troy didn’t know what she looked like until her episode aired.

Troy previously told the New York Times: “I thought she was 55 years old.”

They eventually met in person after she competed: “Within the first 24 hours, we just wanted to be together,” Genevieve told the New York Times. They now share a son, 10.

Troy – who some fans have said looks like Bill Hader – was also praised by Lady Gaga, who recanted in his first episode.

When he met her backstage after a concert, she said, “You have great style!”

“I was wearing about a cardigan and shorts,” he said. “But she noticed, and I’ve been driving it around ever since!”

SECRET TRIVIA STAR

Troy may be new to Jeopardy! but he is no stranger to the world of quizzes.

He’s a four-time champion in the invitation-only niche Learned League, a trivia club with over 25,000 members and Jeopardy!-like questions.

It’s no easy feat to “win the scarf” four times, the prize bestowed on the champion of the secret league.

Many dangers! Champs are or were secretly members, including host Ken, per The New Yorker — he’s had to resign for obvious reasons.

Troy also humbly revealed that in a post-credits scene, he was part of “the best technical trivia team in the world last year.”

He teamed up with The Chase’s Brandon Blackwell and Victoria Groce to win the global Online Quiz League competition.

Brandon and another fellow chaser were in the audience at his games and he definitely makes them proud.

Troy is now the fifth contestant to qualify for next year’s Tournament of Champions, though viewers don’t think he’ll be going home to prepare anytime soon.

The others are fan favorite Ray Lalonde with 13 wins, former poker ace Cris Pannullo with 21 wins, five-day champion Luigi de Guzman, and four-day champion and priest David Sibley.

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