https://www.tvinsider.com/1165977/jeopardy-tournament-of-champions-last-spot-full-lineup/

Celebrity Jeopardy! winner Walter was expected to be the 21st of 21 contestants in the Tournament of Champions. “Because Lisa Ann Walter is so busy with Abbott Elementary and couldn’t be with us as our Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, the person who is the first runner up in Champions Wildcard, which you will see in the upcoming weeks, that person is going to get a spot in the Tournament of Champions,” executive producer Sarah Foss announced on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, per TV Insider. Foss and executive producer Michael Davies emphasized that Walter will be back for the 2026 Tournament of Champions.

https://www.tvinsider.com/1165977/jeopardy-tournament-of-champions-last-spot-full-lineup/

“Because Lisa Ann Walter is so busy with Abbott Elementary and couldn’t be with us as our Celebrity Jeopardy! champion, the person who is the first runner up in Champions Wildcard, which you will see in the upcoming weeks, that person is going to get a spot in the Tournament of Champions,” executive producer Sarah Foss announced on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, per TV Insider.

You could have just gotten Dave Leffler for that spot in the next ToC instead. His regular-play winnings exceeded $100,000, but he was cheated out of ever appearing in a ToC in 2019 because of the producers of Jeopardy! wanting an Emma Boettcher-James Holzhauer rematch so much. I hate the Champions Wildcard.:(

Drew Goins was the runner-up in this year's Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard, taking Lisa Ann Walter's spot in this year's Tournament of Champions. Ultimately, Drew Goins lost his ToC semifinal (aired Friday, February 7). Drew Basile, who was a major regular-play champion in Season 40 (with $129,601 in cash winnings over seven days), was also in that same ToC semifinal, and he also lost, failing to advance to the ToC finals.