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Jeopardy! fans may recognize a familiar face from Thunder Bay on an episode airing early next month.
Ron Lalonde, the identical twin of former contestant and 13-game winner Ray Lalonde, is scheduled to make his on-air debut on Dec. 3.
Both brothers were born and raised in Thunder Bay, graduated from the former Hillcrest High School and headed off to university before building careers far from home. Ron now lives in Pittsburgh, working as a medical physicist, and Ray is a Toronto-based scenic artist who shot to fame after his own Jeopardy! run in 2022.
He took home close to $400,000 USD playing the game.
The siblings grew up watching Jeopardy! with their parents, a nightly ritual that planted a quiet ambition.
“My parents were big Jeopardy! fans and we would watch that after supper, on the regular,” said Ray.
Ray says he had taken the Jeopardy! test for about 20 years, drifting in and out of the contestant pool “four times before I got on.” Ron, watching his brother’s efforts, eventually followed suit.
Ron was in the contestant pool when Ray got on the show. When producers learned Ray had an identical twin who also kept testing, they told him “to keep trying” and they’ll look out for his name. Three years after Ray’s run, Ron finally got his call.
Ray Lalonde, a Toronto-based scenic artist who’s won 13 games on Jeopardy!. He took up residence on the Alex Trebek Stage in Dec. 2022. (Jeopardy/Twitter)
He was able to turn to his brother for advice on how to prepare.
That included practical tips not found on any trivia website.
“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,” said Ray.
Ron took the preparation seriously, including buying a practice buzzer, something Ray hadn’t even known existed.
Ron, who has watched the show since its Art Fleming era in the 1970s, said nerves hit harder than expected once he stepped on set.
WATCH | Ray Lalonde secures his 12th win 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,” said Ron.
He also faced a challenge unique to identical twins: being mistaken for his brother.
Ron Lalonde will be featured on season 42 of the classic game show. (Tyler Golden/Sony Pictures Television)
“Ken Jennings did call me Ray a few times,” he said. “There was a great deal of teasing as well about how can we tell that you’re not your brother?”
That cameo moment is captured in the episode when host Ken Jennings pointed him out in the audience.
This time the siblings’ family was able to witness Ron’s moment firsthand, travelling to watch the taping.
Ron says it was special to share the experience: “It was nice to have the whole group down. We made a mini vacation out of it.”
The Lalondes still have relatives in Thunder Bay and return occasionally, making this latest Jeopardy! moment, another point of hometown pride.
Ray says he can’t return as a regular contestant.
“I may have already had all the kicks of the candidate I’m ever going to get. I’ve been up on that stage 16 times,” Ray said.
For now, though, the spotlight is squarely on Ron when his episode airs on Dec. 3.
