Before she died, Cindy Stovall donated her winnings to cancer research.
One Jeopardy! contestant’s lifelong dream was to appear on the iconic game show, but a week before her appearance was set to air, she passed away.
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Cindy Stovall, 41, taped her appearance on the show in August and put on an impressive performance while battling terminal cancer.
The Austin, Texas, native, who had a Ph.D. in engineering, died earlier this week. Jeopardy! will air her appearance next Monday, making her the first person in the history of the show to appear posthumously.
Her death was announced by boyfriend Jason Hess on Twitter, who wrote: “In the early morning hours cancer took the best friend, partner and pub trivia teammate a guy could ask for. Love you always @nanocind.”
Only host Alex Trebek and a handful of Jeopardy! staffers were aware Stovall only had about six months to live. None of her fellow contestants knew she will terminally ill.
Her boyfriend says on the day of the taping, she was fighting a high-grade fever which turned out to be a blood infection, and was on painkillers.
Trebek said in a statement: “All of us at Jeopardy! offer our condolences and best wishes to her family and friends."
Her family says before she died, Stovall donated her Jeopardy! winnings to cancer research.
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