Ray Lalonde, born and raised in Thunder Bay, was accepted into the Jeopardy contestants’ pool but had to wait over a year to be invited to play.
THUNDER BAY — The third time proved to be the charm for a former Thunder Bay resident who made several attempts to be accepted as a contestant on Jeopardy.
Now Ray Lalonde can call himself a Jeopardy champion.
After trying for a third time to be added to the contestants’ pool, the Hillcrest High School graduate succeeded but still had to wait over a year before he got the phone call he was waiting for.
“They called me just out of the blue and asked ‘Can you come down to Los Angeles next month?’ and I said ‘sure,’ ” he told TBnewswatch in an interview Monday.
The shows he participated in were recorded in October.
Lalonde emerged as champion in his first two competitions, which were broadcast last Thursday and Friday — winning about $60,000 — and he was scheduled to play again on Monday.
Jeopardy contestants are not allowed to disclose or discuss the outcome of their appearances until they’ve been televised.
Although he left Thunder Bay at the age of 19 to attend university, Lalonde said he feels quite connected to the city as he visits from time to time and has lots of extended family members and old friends here who have been cheering him on.
He described his experience on Jeopardy as “thrilling” and “so much fun,” saying the people who work on the show were fabulous to work with.
“They were so accommodating. They’ve been doing this forever, and they’re just professionals through and through. They just make it so nice and easy for you and are so welcoming. It’s just a lovely experience.”
Lalonde appeared totally calm, cool and collected on the broadcasts, but he said he was actually pretty tense.
He explained that he suffered nerve damage in his legs in an accident, and had to work hard to prevent muscle spasms while he was on camera.
Interestingly, his occupation also involves the entertainment industry, where he works as a scenic artist in Toronto.
“I work for TV shows and movies, and basically do the art work on sets. In construction for TV, you’re building everything out of plywood and have to make everything look like the real thing. Like it’s a brick wall, a stone wall or marble, anything like that. It’s all fake. That’s what I do,” Lalonde said.
source tbnewswatch