Survivor 45’s Drew Basile is trading the beaches of Fiji for the Alex Trebek stage.
“Officially playing super champ Adriana Harmeyer tmrw night on Jeopardy,” Basile, 23, wrote via X on Tuesday, June 18, alongside a photo of him and Ken Jennings. “ She’s 15-0 on reality TV, I’m 0-1…. Everybody loves an underdog.”
Basile will face off against current champion Harmeyer on Wednesday, June 19. On Tuesday, Harmeyer achieved a Jeopardy! milestone as she won her 15th straight game. Her total prize winnings have reached a total of $349,600 so far.
Basile’s Jeopardy! appearance makes him the first Survivor player to compete on the beloved trivia show. While Basile is the first Survivor alum to appear on the show, Jeopardy! shared another connection to reality series earlier this season. Former champ Juveria Zaheer is the older sister of Omar Zaheer, who competed on Survivor 42 in 2022. Juveria won the Second Chance tournament, earning a spot in the Champions Wildcard. She took home a prize of $70,800.
Survivor fans will recognize Basile from season 45, where he came in sixth place. He was the youngest player to compete on the season. Basile formed an alliance with Dee Valladares, Austin Li Coon and Julie “Mama J” Alley, which they dubbed the Reba 4. Basile served as the group’s strategist as they outwitted and outplayed their way to the final 6.
While Basile and Alley, 50, didn’t make it to the final tribal council, their allies made it to the end with Valladares, 27, securing the title of Sole Survivor.
After learning that Basile was going to compete on Jeopardy! Li Coon, 27, gave his pal some words of encouragement.
“LET’S GO DREW!!!!!!! Smartest to ever play Survivor LFG,” Li Coon wrote via X on Wednesday.
Basile had an impressive resume going into Survivor which should help him during Jeopardy!. In his preseason interview, Basile revealed he was the captain of his trivia team who won a trivia national championship in 2019. He also shared that he participates in competitive Scrabble tournaments.
The Ivy League graduate described himself as one of the smartest people to ever play Survivor. While at Tribal Councils or in confessionals, Basile gushed about his love of literature and provided countless analogies.
Since Survivor 45, Basile has returned to school. He is currently pursuing his masters in English Literature at the University of Oxford in England.
“The haters have called me a know-it-all,” Basile wrote via Instagram in June ahead of his Jeopardy! appearance. “It’s time to prove them right.”
Jeopardy! airs on ABC at 7 p.m. local time.
