Pete Johnston competed against super champion Scott Riccardi on Jeopardy! Tuesday, July 15. The pressure was high as Riccardi was already an eight-day champion at the time. (He is currently 11-wins in). Johnston opened up about meeting host Ken Jennings, his time on the game show, and more in a new interview.

The Michigan State University professor told WKAR that Jeopardy! is like “summer camp for nerdy trivia folks.” It was a good thing Johnston placed second after trying to get on Jeopardy! for six years because he had set low expectations of himself. This allowed him to enjoy his experience no matter what place he came in. Johnston ended with $12,601 in second place after getting the final clue right.

“I just wanted to buzz in once and get one question right and call a category without, you know, making some verbal gaffe or whatever,” Johnston said. Because he did that, the Jeopardy! contestant considered his game a success. “And most of all, I just had so much fun, and I got to meet other contestants. Everybody there is kind of into Jeopardy! just as much as you are, and willing to kind of get in and the nitty gritty of the game and sort of break things down. And it was so fun.”

He was informed in March that he would be on the show and said it was a surreal experience. Johnston detailed how he auditioned for Jeopardy! and what the next stages are after getting the initial interview. “There is the Anytime Test online that folks can take if they’re curious. And I have been taking that for about once a year for the last five or six years, but I’ve never gone to the next stage. There’s another test, a second stage in the process, and then the third stage is a Zoom mock game where you’re playing against other contestants, potential contestants, and you’re buzzing in on your pen in your living room, and they’re sort of seeing how you do in the pressure of a game environment,” Johnston told WKAR.

“That stage, they say, ‘Okay, now, we might call you in the next two years, or we might not.’ And then, lo and behold, they gave me a call in March to see if I would be able to tape.” After getting the call back, Johnston brushed up on topics like literature, geography, and history.

For someone who is a big fan of Jeopardy! as Johnston is, he said being on set and meeting Ken Jennings was a dream come true.

“Being on set was utterly surreal and incredible. It was like I was in 5D,” Johnston said. “I had gone beyond the television screen, and I was within the show that I’ve grown up watching my whole life.” His girlfriend wasn’t able to make the taping, so she was the first one he told. He also told his parents and siblings to tune in, so keeping his time on the show a secret wasn’t hard.

“Ken Jennings is an utter professional and just a consummate human being and such a talented host, funny, quick on his feet, but also generous and gracious. And he met with the contestants before everything started to just give us some words of encouragement, and he was entertaining the studio audience in between,” he said.

“During commercial breaks, he would answer questions, and so up until the end of the day, which is a full day, he was really just kind of giving his all into making Jeopardy! America’s quiz show, and just, you know, a show that is a legendary staple for so many good reasons.”