West Islip-raised 'Jeopardy!' contestant Sean McShane, who dissed Long Island, returns to show, looking to make up

Despite his flippancy on “Jeopardy!” Wednesday, West Islip-raised Bostonian Sean McShane, who incurred public wrath when he denigrated Long Island during a 2022 appearance, insists he actually does love the place.

“Sean, when you were last with us, you told us about a bike trip you made that did not include Long Island,” host Ken Jennings, 49, said during introductions on the Tournament of Champions quarterfinals episode.

“That’s right,” answered tour guide McShane, who was born in March 1997, “and I made an off-the-cuff, what I thought was a harmless, joke, saying that I wasn’t missing much. But the people of Long Island in their typically emphatic way let me know very clearly that they did not appreciate that remark.”

“So you’ve got a beef going on now with the entire population of Long Island?” Jennings puckishly responded.

“The ball’s in their court,” said McShane. “I’m willing to let bygones be bygones but we’ll see how they respond once this airs.” McShane did not respond to Newsday Thursday when contacted via email and his Messenger account.

In a Feb. 28 interview with The Boston Globe, however, McShane was more conciliatory.

“My first time on the show, my anecdote was: I rode my bicycle from the Canadian border down to Manhattan,” he told the newspaper. “Ken Jennings goes: ‘Oh, you didn’t decide to head out to the end of Long Island?’ I didn’t know what to say; I was nervous. The first thing that popped into my head was: I’m not missing much.’ Ken laughed, the audience laughed — and when the laughter trailed off, you heard a few people go ‘Oooooh.’ "

And so, he continued, “I thought: That’s going to come back to bite me. Then I completely forgot about it. A Long Island-themed Instagram account posted a clip and the hate comments — hundreds of people saying the worst about me. … Then a friend from Long Island texted me: ‘The radio station is talking ... about you on-air right now.’ So I called in.”

When he did so — introducing himself as “the ‘Jeopardy!’ guy who everyone hates” — he told the hosts, “ ‘It was a joke. I love Long Island!’ [It eventually died down] but my friends and siblings thought it was the funniest thing: The first time Sean goes on TV he has to issue a public apology.”

McShane, who attended Bayview Elementary and Beach Street Middle School in West Islip and St. Anthony's High School is South Huntington, won three games during his Dec. 12-15, 2022, run, earning $80,401. On Wednesday's Tournament of Champions episode he finished last, with $5,999, versus San Francisco restaurant server Deb Bilodeau’s $8,400 and Tampa, Florida, music executive Troy Meyer’s $38,400.

The son of firefighter Terence A. McShane, who died on Sept. 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center, Sean McShane is a cousin of four-time “Jeopardy!” champion Dan McShane, who competed in January 2012 and again in the Tournament of Champions 2013.