Jeopardy Contestant Wins Hearts and Minds With On-Air Proposal

A Jeopardy! contestant won in the category of love when he proposed to his girlfriend during Thursday night’s show.

Michael Pascuzzi of Florida swapped out the traditional interview with host Alex Trebek to pop the question to his girlfriend, Maria Shafer, who was in the television audience.

“I just wanted to say one quick thing, and ask Maria Shafer, right there, if she would make me a winner today and marry me,” Pascuzzi said. “Will you marry me?”

While Shafer swiftly responded with a tearful “yes,” the ever-wry Trebek had a quip for the situation: “Maria, you responded too quickly. I was about to say we’ll have the answer to that question right after this commercial break.”

Shafer also modified the answer she gave to Pascuzzi’s proposal later; she realized that she should have phrased her answer in the form of a question, which she quickly resolved.