Get to Know Victoria Groce, the ‘Jeopardy! Masters’ Champ Who’s Back for Season 4
Here’s what to know about the trivia champion before she returns to the ‘Jeopardy!’ stage
Key Takeaways
- Victoria Groce returns to ‘Jeopardy! Masters’ after winning the 2024 competition.
- The trivia champion finished second in 2025 and is ready for another shot at the title.
- Groce has also made history as a World Quizzing Championship winner.
Jeopardy! Masters Season 4 airs on Tuesday, August 25 and everyone has their eyes on one contestant in particular: Victoria Groce, who won the show in 2024 and finished second in 2025. Safe to say, she’s back with a vengeance this time around, and we cannot wait to watch. To learn more about Groce and her incredible journey, keep scrolling!
Get to know Victoria Groce
Groce was born in 1981 in Macon, Georgia. She attended the University of Georgia and studied comparative literature, while also competing in a variety of academic and college quiz bowls.
After graduating, Groce planned to get her PhD in virology or immunology, but the birth of her daughter and her chronic migraines made that difficult. Instead, she chose a career in scientific writing and professional piano playing (how’s that for multi-faceted?).
“I grew up intending to be a concert pianist, so the idea of being in performance, sitting in front of people is a very natural one for me,” Groce told Trib Total Media in 2024. “It’s much less nerve-wracking than I expected it to be.”
Victoria Groce’s ‘Jeopardy!’ history
Groce first appeared on Jeopardy! back in 2005. During her first game, she made history by defeating super-champ David Madden, ending his 19 game streak. The next game though, she sadly lost and left the Alex Trebek Stage for 19 years.
Then, in 2024, Groce was invited to compete in the first ever Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT), which featured former players all hoping to win a cash prize and invitation to Jeopardy! Masters. That time she won, beating some of the game’s most formidable players, including Amy Schneider and Andrew He, earning her spot in the 2024 Masters competition.
“It was 20 years ago, so the buzzer felt like I was trying to do it for the first time,” Groce told Trib Total Media. “As far as gameplay goes … over the years Jeopardy! gameplay has changed quite a bit since I was originally on. People are far more aggressive [and] there’s a lot more optimization over wagering. But also the way people take categories has changed. Very few people take a category top to bottom and most people did at the time I was on originally.”
Despite all of those differences, Groce did end up winning Masters in 2024. She then came in second in 2025, losing to Yogesh Raut, whom she beat the year before. Raut is expected to appear in Season 4 of Jeopardy! Masters, so it will be interesting to see the two compete yet again.
“I cannot express how grateful I am. Ten years ago I was fearful that I’d have to quit working because of my health and I’d be basically dependent for the rest of my life. And now I’ve not only had such amazing experiences in JIT and Masters, I’ve made the most wonderful friends,” Groce wrote on Reddit in 2025 after losing to Raut. “Thank you for watching, and thank you for enjoying this show. I’m acutely aware that I had all kinds of ways to not be here in tonight’s matches—they didn’t have to invite me; I had lots of routes to losses in JIT and Masters last year and this year—and I can honestly say I have felt nothing other than great about how things have gone.”
Other things Victoria Groce has done
Along with Jeopardy! Groce appeared on trivia show The Chase in 2022. Additionally, she became the first woman and the first American to win the World Quizzing Championship in 2024 and, two years later, became the fifth person to win it for a second time.
Finally, Groce wrote a book called Know It All: The Quiz Champion’s Essential Guidebook to Learning Anything. It will be released in February 2027.
“The utterly insane things that have happened to me over the last three years—The Chase, getting an invitation to come back on Jeopardy!, Masters, everything—I never ever could have predicted when I got back into this hobby a decade ago. I don’t feel like I deserved them. I most certainly don’t feel like I was owed them,” Groce wrote on Reddit.
Victoria Groce’s personal life
Groce is married to Philip (Phil) Groce. They have one child together named Nora.
“A special shoutout to Phil and Nora, who have tolerated my nerdy self for years and years now and actually seem to enjoy it,” Groce wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter) in May of 2024.
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