Rickochet My wife the Jeopardy junkie told me that they select the contestants many months before their first appearance.
Not only do they have to select well in advance, they also film two months in advance. One of the contestants who went up against James Holzhauer, in his last appearance, told the story of being shocked, backstage, when told that the guy he was going to be competing against had already won 32 times and accumulated close to $2.5 million - because none of those episodes had aired. Going up against one of these buzz-saw-like contestants has to be a little intimidating. You could know a bunch of answers, be beaten to the buzzer all night long, and come off looking like a moron on National TV. š¤Ŗ