WATCH: Jeopardy! Fans Love This Veteran Contestant's 'Full-Circle' Moment

A Jeopardy! contestant with a long-term connection to the show won the hearts of fans far and wide last night.

Martha Bath, a retired CPA from Seattle, revealed that this wasn't her "first rodeo" at the start of the show. "Fifty years ago this spring, I was on the original daytime show with Art Fleming in New York," she told host Ken Jennings. "I won $40 and a set of encyclopedias, and I still have them." 

Jennings told her they'd be sending her home with "more than $40 tonight", and he wasn't kidding. By the time the show had come to a close, Bath had defeated returning champion Emmett Stanton and sports journalist Christopher Plummet, taking home a total of $30,800. "Or, if we count 1972, $30,840," joked Jennings.

Fans tweeted their delight with Bath's appearance and win, sharing their excitement about her "full-circle" moment and their own memories of the original daytime iteration of Jeopardy!, which aired from 1964-1975.

Love Martha Bath’s full-circle moment on @Jeopardy! She’s gutsy and brilliant. So fun to watch! #marthabath #jeopardy #champion

— Jan Winter (@Nostrajanus) September 21, 2022

We watched Jeopardy with Art Fleming when we went home for lunch in grade school. Martha was great, I wish her well.

— Vicki L. Wagner (@mickddy30) September 22, 2022

My hat is off to Martha, who played a whale of a game tonight on #Jeopardy 50 years AFTER she appeared on @Jeopardy with Art Fleming!

I doubt we'll see many more Fleming-era contestants take another stab at Jeopardy, but if they can play like Martha, I will be here for it.

— Vaughn Winchell (@VaughnWinchell) September 21, 2022

WOW! What a Jeopardy game tonight!! Martha was AWESOME! @Jeopardy

— SusanG (@Saloozalie) September 22, 2022

Love this story! Congrats, Martha!

— The Marvelous Marg (@MargMarvelous) September 22, 2022

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Jade Budowski is a freelance writer with a knack for ruining punchlines and harboring dad-aged celebrity crushes. She was previously a reporter/producer at Decider and is a member of the Television Critics Association. Follow her on Twitter: @jadebudowski.