I'm a Celebrity... Trivia Quiz

Answer: Game Show Host

Robert William "Bob" Barker was born in 1923 in Darrington, WA, USA. His early work in radio, in Los Angeles, led to his first TV game show hosting gig in 1956, when he first appeared on "Truth or Consequences". It is likely, however, that most people will remember him for his long stint (1972-2007) as host of "The Price Is Right". He has also made a number of guest appearances on that show since his retirement, and has a number of Daytime Emmy Awards to his name.

His other claim to fame is as an animal rights activist, donating both time and money to support various animal rights charities, and famously signing off "Price" episodes with an admonition to have your pets spayed and neutered, beginning in 1982.

Answer: Game Show Host

Born in Crosby, Lancashire, England in 1944, Anne Josephine Robinson worked on a variety of programmes in both radio and television in the UK, beginning in 1982. She hosted the BBC game show "The Weakest Link" from 2000-2012 (and again in 2017) and was the original host of NBC's American version "Weakest Link" (2001-2002).

Her persona in this role earned her the nickname "The Queen of Mean". She has also hosted the long-running Channel 4 series "Countdown" for a couple of seasons (2021-2022).

Answer: Game Show Host

Our Canadian in this group is the much loved George Alexander "Alex" Trebek OC (1940-2020), who succumbed to pancreatic cancer only days after taping his last episode of "Jeopardy!", the quiz show which he had hosted for 37 years, beginning in 1984. The stage where that show is taped has been renamed in his honour, The Alex Trebek Stage.

He was born in Sudbury, Ontario, and educated at the University of Ottawa. He began working for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in both radio and TV in the 1960s. One of his first game shows was "Reach for the Top", a quiz show featuring teams of high school students competing for the glory of their school. After moving to the States in 1973, he hosted a number of shows besides "Jeopardy!", including "Classic Concentration", "The Wizard of Odds" and "The $128,000 Question".

He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in 2017.

Answer: 'Jeopardy!' Super-champion

James Holzhauer was born in 1984 in Illinois, and earned his place in this quiz with his 2019 run on "Jeopardy!" when he won 32 games before being defeated. His occupation was given as professional gambler, and he changed the traditional "true Daily Double" bet to his "All in!" accompanied by the gesture of shoving all of his (imaginary) chips (like a poker player) to the centre of the (imaginary) table. Later players have emulated this gesture. He has subsequently appeared on a number of "Jeopardy!" tournaments with varying success. He has also appeared as a Chaser, nicknamed "The High Roller" on the ABC version of "The Chase".

A word about "Jeopardy!" super-champions, if I may: Until 2003, champions had to retire after winning five games, still the benchmark for qualifying for the Tournament of Champions. In that year the automatic retirement was scrapped, and champions could play on until they were defeated. Initially, the term super-champion was applied to anyone who won six or more games. With the appearance of juggernauts like Ken Jennings (74 wins) and others, the number of wins to qualify for the "super" prefix was shifted to ten. The three champs in this quiz have all more than qualified.

Answer: 'Jeopardy!' Super-champion

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1998 and educated at Trinity College, in Toronto, Ontario, Mattea Roach is our Canadian super-champion, who became something of a star in Canada during their 23-game winning streak on "Jeopardy!" in 2022. As well as their nightly appearance on the quiz show during that time, they showed up on almost every morning show and talk show discussing all sorts of things, whilst not giving away when their pre-recorded run would end.

At 23, Roach was the youngest super-champion to date. On the "Jeopardy! Masters" programme in 2023, Roach finished second to James Holzhauer.

Answer: 'Jeopardy!' Super-champion

Amy Schneider was born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1979, and gives her occupation as "writer". Schneider's 40-game winning streak aired between November 2021 and January 2022, and vaulted her into second place on the all time win list behind only Ken Jennings.

She was particularly adept at answering the final question of each episode, missing only eleven in 41 attempts. She went on to win that year's Tournament of Champions, and finished fifth in the Masters tournament in 2023.

Answer: Newsreader

Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr., (1916-2009) was born in St Joseph, Missouri, and attended the University of Texas, Austin for a couple of years, leaving to take up a career in broadcast news, initially on the radio. He was a war correspondent in the European Theatre during World War II, and also covered the trials at Nuremberg after the war. After a variety of television assignments in the 1950s, he became the anchor of the CBS Evening News in 1962, a position that he held until his retirement in 1981.

It was in this capacity that many people will remember him, especially those of a certain age. The most memorable moment is, to many, his breaking the news of the assassination of John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963.

Answer: Newsreader

Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings CM (1938-2005) was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His father was a radio journalist for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), who was less than pleased when his nine year old son was given a kids' programme by CBC whilst father was on assignment overseas. Peter's education was a bit spotty, perhaps due to boredom, and his next radio broadcasting job came in Brockville, Ontario, where his day job was as a bank teller. Moving on a few years and he was on television in Ottawa, soon moving to co-anchor the evening news on the new Canadian network, CTV. While covering the Democratic Convention in Atlantic City, NJ for CTV, Jennings was approached by ABC News with an offer of a job for that American network, which he eventually accepted.

He became the youngest-ever news anchor at age 26, but was a bit out of his depth (and sometimes derided for his Canadian accent and lack of knowledge of things American) and after a few years opted for the role of foreign correspondent, though he would return to the anchor desk in the 1980s. He would continue broadcasting in some capacity until just four months before his death from lung cancer in August 2005. He was made a Member of the Order of Canada (CM) that same year.

Answer: Newsreader

Lisa LaFlamme OC, OOnt was born in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in 1964. She began her career in minor roles with the local CTV station in her hometown, rising to roles as foreign correspondent, parliamentary reporter and co-host of a popular national morning show. She conducted interviews with royalty, politicians and a host of others; covered Olympic games, elections and disasters and became a familiar face to Canadians. She became senior anchor of "CTV National News" in 2011, after the retirement of Lloyd Robertson.

She held that position until 2022, when she was unceremoniously informed that the network was "going in another direction", replacing her with a younger male anchor. Some speculated that her decision to allow her hair to "go grey" during the pandemic had something to do with the decision. She has since performed as a special correspondent for CityNews, covering the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of Charles III for them.

She was made a member of the Order of Ontario in 2014, and an officer of the Order of Canada in 2019.

Answer: Sports Commentator

The distinctive voice of Howard William Cosell (born Cohen)(1918-1995) was well known to North American sports fans for decades. He was born in North Carolina, but raised in Brooklyn, New York. After serving in the US Army during World War II, he began his career in broadcasting with ABC Radio in the 1950s, initially hosting a show about Little League Baseball, but eventually moving on to cover many sports, on both radio and television. He was a fixture on "Monday Night Football" from 1970 to 1983, and it was during one of these broadcasts in December 1980 that Cosell digressed from commenting on the game to report the murder of Beatle John Lennon.

Besides baseball and football, Cosell covered boxing, the Olympics and other sports, and also appeared in a number of movies and television shows, often as a version of himself. His memoir, "I Never Played the Game", was published in 1985. In 1993 he was inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in Israel, and in 1994 he entered the Television Hall of Fame.

Answer: Sports Commentator

Although she was born in the Philippines in 1970, many Canadians (especially Toronto Blue Jays fans) would claim Hazel Mae as Canadian. Indeed, most of her online bios describe her as Filipina-Canadian. Beginning in 2001 she has worked in various capacities for Rogers Sportsnet (in Canada) and the MLB Network in the States. Blue Jays fans know her well as the Jays' field level reporter, who hangs out near the dugout during games and smiles through on-field post-game interviews, despite the near-certainty of being an innocent victim of splashback from the Gatorade baths doled out to her interviewees.

Born Hazel Mae Cagulada, she is also known as Hazel Mae Barker, following her marriage to former major league baseball player Kevin Barker.

Answer: Sports Commentator

(Graeme) Murray Walker OBE (1923-2021) was the voice of motorsport, particularly Formula 1, for British racing fans from 1976 until 2001, when he retired. The first 20 years were with the BBC, and the remainder with ITV when it secured the rights to broadcast F1 Grands Prix. Walker was as famous to his fans for his "Murrayisms" as a certain former baseball player was to his for his "Yogi-isms". He was also a knowledgeable and exciting commentator, putting enormous energy into his remarks. Having just listened to a compilation of some of his best moments, I can say this with some certainty.

As a young man Walker served as an officer in the Royal Scots Greys during WWII, seeing action in the European theatre. He dabbled in racing motorcycles before taking up the broadcasting profession, including an early gig as radio commentator for motorcycle racing, including the TT races in the Isle of Man.

His OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) came in the 1996 Birthday Honours List, for services to broadcasting and motorsport.

Answer: 'Survivor' Winner

Born in Connecticut in 1974, Sandra Diaz-Twine has been dubbed the "Queen" of "Survivor" due to her status as the first person to have won two different seasons of the show. Her first victory came in the seventh season, "Survivor: Pearl Islands" (2003), which was filmed in Panama, and her second was for "Survivor: Heroes vs Villains" (2010), the 20th season, which was filmed in Samoa. Since that time she has appeared in more seasons, including one in which she did not compete, but served as a mentor to contestants and one season of the Australian version of the show.

She is married to a career soldier, and had a brief career in the US Army herself, before turning to office work (and competing on "Survivor"!)

Answer: 'Survivor' Winner

Robert Carlo Mariano, known as "Boston Rob", was born on Christmas Day 1975, in (you guessed it) Boston, Massachusetts, and studied at Boston University. Unlike Sandra, who won her first two appearances on "Survivor", Rob needed four attempts before winning "Survivor: Redemption Island" which was the 22nd season of the show, and filmed in Nicaragua in 2011. Like Sandra, he was a non-playing mentor during "Survivor: Island of the Idols" (2019).

In "Survivor: All Stars" (2004), he finished as runner up to Amber Brkich, who subsequently became his wife. Together, they participated in two seasons of another competition show, "The Amazing Race", finishing as runners up in the first of these.

Answer: 'Survivor' Winner

Born in Germany in 1998 to Kenyan parents, Maryanne Oketch moved with them to Canada as a child, and attended university in both Hamilton and Toronto, Ontario. She is considered to be the second Canadian winner of "Survivor" after her 2022 victory in "Survivor 42" which played out in Fiji.

The first Canadian winner was Erika Casupanan, who won the previous season ("Survivor 41"), which was also filmed in Fiji under strict conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.