Canadians are a proud bunch. We love to boast about homegrown celebs whenever they're in the news, whether it's Ryan Reynolds, Drake or Celine Dion.
In the Maritimes, that's only amplified further. Our undying love of Elliot Page, Sarah McLachlan and Sidney Crosby runs as deep in our veins as our need to say "it's the wind that'll get ya."
And now Halifax gets to claim a new celebrity: Mattea Roach.
The Jeopardy! champion hails from Halifax, having been born here and attending Sacred Heart School before moving to Toronto in recent years. She is a natural star, both charming and talented at the game—People raved about her 12th win in a row, on Wednesday, and Advocate touted her as a "Lesbian Jeopardy! Champ"—but she hasn't forgotten her roots.
"My family thought it was very important that I say I'm from Halifax," Roach told the show's host. "But I've also lived in Calgary for a couple years when I was younger, and Moncton, which is where I learned French."
In true Nova Scotia fashion, everyone in town is talking about Mattea Roach, who's won 13 games as of today, and plays number 14 Friday. The bus driver on your morning commute, the barista at the coffee shop downtown, and yer Ma who went to school with her Da back in Cape Breton.
I put the question to Twitter earlier this week: What are your two degrees of separation from the most iconic thing to come out of the Maritimes since the time Willem Dafoe shopped at the Yarmouth Sobeys? And lots of people came through with their connections.
Let's start with the obvious. Sacred Heart is one of Halifax's top private schools, so a few Haligonians know her from there.
One of my colleagues used to be her teacher!
— Resurgoincognito (@no_bossbabes) April 20, 2022
I went to university with a girl who went to Sacred Heart with her!
— Laura Moore (@lauramooree96) April 19, 2022
But it gets a bit more niche when it's an unexpected "friend of a friend" situation.
Mattea is my neighbour’s younger cousin.
— Maura in Mi'kma'ki (@MauraInMikmaki) April 20, 2022
Her brother had dinner with us one night. He’s a school friend of my daughter.
— waggledagger (@waggledaggered) April 20, 2022
And then we get to the very Maritime extended family relations.
My mom knows her grandparents. And, I found out after the fact, she and I worked on Parliament Hill at the same time in 2016!
— Elizabeth Arsenault (@elizarsenault) April 19, 2022
She’s a cousin to my sister in law.
— angela (she/her) (@GraciesmumMS) April 19, 2022
A special shout out to Roach's mom who seems to have many colleagues.
I work with her mom!
— Jerrica Lynn Anne (@jerricad) April 20, 2022
My husband works with her mom
— Pat Millar (@Millar58Pat) April 19, 2022
Her mother works for the same govt agency as me.
— Conny (@HfxConny) April 20, 2022
A Cape Breton heritage will follow you everywhere.
Her grandparents are from my hometown. Her grandmother taught with my aunt.
— Mary Beth (@mbtiggy) April 20, 2022
My partner has the same last name and is also from Cape Breton. Apparently they're not related but he's clearly wrong.
— Leah MacLean (@lemaclean) April 19, 2022
Is there a MacDonald in her family 😁😁
— David D. 🟧 🪶 🟧 (@answerallman) April 19, 2022
And finally, the quintessential small-town Nova Scotia way that you know everyone (and their business) all the time.
According to my grandparents, her current roommates’ mother lived down the road from me when I was a child*.
— Cher Bauer (@cher_bauer) April 19, 2022
*Not fact checked. This thread is gold.
Her brother dated my sister
— Pelham Flowerdew (@PelhamFlowerdew) April 20, 2022
I have shopped in her cousin's store in Marion Bridge!
— Claire,has all the vaccinations possible!,she/her (@cbgrammie) April 19, 2022