--- ---  # Jeopardy Contestant Wins Hearts and Minds With On-Air Proposal  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 28, 2018 3:34 PM UTC  CULVER CITY, CA - APRIL 17: Game show host Alex Trebek rehearses his lines on the set of the "Jeopardy!" Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Tournament Show Taping on April 17, 2010 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images) CULVER CITY, CA - APRIL 17: Game show host Alex Trebek rehearses his lines on the set of the "Jeopardy!" Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Tournament Show Taping on April 17, 2010 in Culver City, California. (Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)Amanda Edwards—Getty Images  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Sep 28, 2018 3:34 PM UTC A [_Jeopardy!_ ](http://time.com/5226169/reese-witherspoon-jeopardy-category/)contestant won in the category of love when [he proposed to his girlfriend](http://time.com/4861161/dance-routine-proposal/) during Thursday night’s show. Michael Pascuzzi of Florida swapped out the traditional interview with [host Alex Trebek](http://time.com/5089828/alex-trebek-jeopardy-brain-surgery-reactions/) 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. > [](https://twitter.com/Jeopardy/status/1045455547741491201) Jeopardy Contestant Proposes to Girlfriend On air in video ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5409841/jeopardy-contestant-proposes-on-air/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5409841/jeopardy-contestant-proposes-on-air/"},"headline":"Jeopardy Contestant Wins Hearts and Minds With On-Air Proposal","datePublished":"2018-09-28T15:34:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:09.940Z","description":"\"What is yes?\"","url":"https://time.com/5409841/jeopardy-contestant-proposes-on-air/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22d615f8979030ef/69893b647cdbac383ed5e0b3/man-proposes-on-jeopardy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt22d615f8979030ef/69893b647cdbac383ed5e0b3/man-proposes-on-jeopardy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"\"Jeopardy!\" Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Tournament Show Taping","caption":"\"Jeopardy!\" Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational Tournament Show Taping","creditText":"Amanda Edwards—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5409841/jeopardy-contestant-proposes-on-air/","name":"Jeopardy Contestant Wins Hearts and Minds With On-Air Proposal"}}]}] ```