'Jeopardy!' Fans Shocked by Contestant's NSFW Dance Move

A Jeopardy! contestant's celebratory hand gesture has gone viral for a not-safe-for-work (NSFW) reason.

The long-running NBC game show, now hosted by Ken Jennings, brought back three past contestants to compete in the first quarterfinal of its Winter 2024 Champions Wildcard Competition on Monday.

As usual, competitors solved trivia clues presented as answers, replying with a question.

Mira Hayward, a podcaster from Portland, Oregon, appeared alongside other returning contestants Jesse Chin and Kate Campolieta.

Although she lagged behind her rivals at the end of the first round, Hayward smashed the Double Jeopardy! section with 23 correct answers, racking up more than twice the money of Chin and Campolieta.

She also prevailed in the Final Jeopardy! round, where contestants also have to place a wager on whether or not their answer is correct.

Monday's hint was taken from the World Flags category, with contestants shown the clue: "The flag of this Asian nation features part of a World Heritage Site built in the 12th century."

Contestants answered in order from the lowest score to the highest. Chin, who was in third place with $1,800, didn't bother to answer the question. He chose to bet $0, writing "Congratulations Mira" on his board.

Campolieta was in second place with $8000, but also chose to bet $0 on her correct answer of "What is Cambodia."

Hayward also had the right answer, but had chosen to bet $0, with no one winning any money.

However, after being crowned the overall winner, Hayward raised her hands in the air and made two "O" symbols, waving in the direction of her rivals.

Although the gesture was likely to symbolize the $0 bets contestants put on their answers, social media users said the action had an NSFW meaning.

According to Urban Dictionary, a crowdsourced website that breaks down slang words and phrases, the motion is known as the "jerk off gesture."

"When someone mimes jerking off (male masturbation)," the definition reads.

The gesture can convey boredom, annoyance or "symbolically show that what is going on is pointless, and/or masturbatory."

A clip of Hayward's risqué cheer was shared to X, formerly Twitter by user Ben Porter, where it has received over 2 million views so far.

"Oh dear," said Justin Case.

"I just finished watching this and screamed out loud "oh no!!'" wrote @morris6703.

"I really want to know what gesture she thought she was doing... Because it's 1000% not the one we all saw," said @The_Real_X.

"Nerdy women are the freakiest," commented @EdBreezyBonito.

"My wife thought nobody other than me was going to pick up on that. Glad to see you are also a man of... culture," said Patrick Godland.

"I really hope this poor girl has a sense of humor today," wrote John, while Chris Hoffer said: "I can't stop laughing. Pure gold!"

Newsweek has reached out to Mira Hayward for comment via her History on Trial podcast Instagram account and NBC by email.