It’s not everyday that someone gets to work with Alex Trebek on “Jeopardy!”
But when Kelly Miyahara got the chance to be part of “Jeopardy’s!” Clue Crew, she jumped at the opportunity. The Clue Crew is a group of people that provides clues to the contestants on the game show.
Miyahara attended Cal from her freshman to junior year. After her junior year, she moved to Virginia to finish high school.
After graduating high school in 1996, she attended the School of Business at the University of Washington.
Miyahara’s mom found an ad for an audition for the “Jeopardy!” Clue Crew in the spring of 2005. Miyahara jumped at the opportunity because “Jeopardy!” was her mom’s favorite show and she liked the idea of traveling a lot.
“They were looking for someone that is passionate about travel and interested in ‘Jeopardy!’ and game show trivia,” Miyahara said.
Miyahara auditioned with a lot of famous models who came with spiels about why they should be chosen for the Clue Crew. But Miyahara’s genuine personality ended up landing her the job.
“I was surrounded by people that were actresses and models, people who did this for a living. I didn’t,” Miyahara said. “Everyone else had a spiel. I sort of freaked out. I had nothing prepared, so I just talked and answered their questions and was myself.”
“Jeopardy!” later called her back for their final round of auditions at the Hilton in Beverly Hills, where she would later land the job she would work at for the next 14 years.
In 2018, Miyahara’s sister and mom were diagnosed with breast cancer. They found out that their family had a mutated gene that increased their risk for breast and ovarian cancer.
The following year Miyahara was diagnosed with breast cancer herself while preparing for a preventative double mastectomy surgery.
“When [the doctors] did the testing, they found that I did have cancer,” Miyahara said. “The surgery ended up saving my life.”
Miyahara, her mom and sister were able to share their unique story on the “Today Show” in October 2023. She went on to share her story on social media so people going through a similar experience could relate.
She is currently working on a film that shares her and her family’s journey battling cancer from the very start.
“We started filming a movie. It’s going to tell my family’s story,” Miyahara said. “My mission, or goal, is to tell a story the people can relate to. I was able to connect through countless people, even some at Cal High, people that I wasn’t close to before.”
Now, she works with the United States Organization (USO), which is a nonprofit organization that supports military members, veterans and military families.
At the USO, she is able to connect US Army soldiers with famous celebrities around the world. Through this program, US military soldiers are able to look forward to something.
Through this, she has been able to meet multiple famous people including Snoop Dogg, Chris Evans, Ryan Gosling and many more.
Through a friend at Sony, Miyahara has also been able to work as a host on the world’s first Live Play Bingo app with hosts. Live Play Bingo is an app where people can play bingo against themselves or other people 24/7 with live hosts.

This story was originally published on The Californian on March 5, 2024.