‘Jeopardy!’: Ray Lalonde’s Identical Twin Brother to Compete on Show

Jeopardy! all-time great Ray Lalonde‘s twin brother, Ron, is set to be a contestant on the show next month. Ray won 13 games in December 2022, raking up a total of $388,400.

The LaLonde twins are from Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada. According to CBC, Ron, Ray’s identical twin brother, will compete on Jeopardy! on December 3. Ron now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, working as a medical physicist.

Talking to the outlet, the twins said that they grew up watching Jeopardy! with their parents since the 1970s. “My parents were big Jeopardy! fans and we would watch that after supper, on the regular,” Ray said.

Ron’s name was in the contestant pool when Ray got picked for the show. Three years after Ray’s turn, Ron finally got the call. Of course, he turned to his brother for advice.

“If you go up on stage, you’re nervous, your mouth is going to go dry, have some lozenges with you, don’t drink too much coffee,” Ray offered. He also said to “focus on the buzzer, on the timing, because that’s pretty critical. It’s not just knowing the answers. It’s also getting to answer them by buzzing first. So that was a big part of it, the preparation.” He also told Ron to “relax and have fun.” Ron took the advice seriously and bought a practice buzzer to prepare.

He shared that the nerves hit him hard when he got on the Alex Trebek stage. “I was surprised at how nervous I was on stage because it was funny. I didn’t feel nervous in my head, but my legs would not stop shaking,” Ron told the outlet.

However, he faced a challenge unique to him. “Ken Jennings did call me Ray a few times,” Ron said. “There was a great deal of teasing as well about how can we tell that you’re not your brother?”

“He looks a lot like me,” Ray told Thunder Bay Newswatch. “I mean, if we stand side-by-side, we do look a tiny bit different, but we’re essentially identical.”

Ray and the rest of their family attended the taping, and the host pointed Ray out in the audience, confirming the twins’ identity. “It was nice to have the whole group down. We made a mini vacation out of it,” Ron shared.

Ron told Newswatch that there is a “bit of pressure” on him since his brother took home over $400,000 on the game show. “Ray couldn’t have been more supportive,” he said.

Ray is the second-longest streaking and second-highest winning Canadian champion, after Mattea Roach, who won 23 games. He also competed in that year’s Tournament of Champions, coming in second and taking home $5,000. Ray also placed second in the Invitational Tournament and took home $10,000. This gave him a total of $403,400.

The LaLondes are not the only twins to compete on Jeopardy! years later. Kara Peruccio competed 12 years after her twin sister, Caitlin. Also, twins Ciara and Kristin Donegan competed on the game show years apart. Their mother, Dr. Laura Donegan, was also a contestant.

Will Ron go as far as Ray? Tune in on December 3 to find out.