Katy Graduate Continues Game Show Success
- ncookclark
- May 15
- 4 min read
KATY MAGAZINE NEWS
May 15, 2025
By Natalie Cook Clark
A Mayde Creek High School graduate gets answers right on television game shows and credits most of his success to his family and Katy roots. Who is Kyle Kahan?
Four Game Shows and Counting
Kyle Kahan, a 2007 Mayde Creek High School graduate, has now appeared on three games shows including his dream show, Jeopardy! Last night he appeared on the newest Game Show Network show, Tic Tac Dough where he won the episode and the $10,000 prize.
Kahan credits his game show success to his trivia passions, his Katy roots and his father, Houston Crime Stoppers Director, Andy Kahan.
His love for quizzes translated into his high school experience at Mayde Creek High School where he was a member Quizbowl team as well as the school band and academic decathlon.
Kahan says that he owes so much to his game show experiences to his Dad. “He was always quizzing me on things,” he says.
“Jeopardy was always the dream,” says Kahan. “The experience was truly incredible. From meeting the legendary Alex Trebek to seeing how the process worked to dealing with the frustrations of the buzzer to meeting lifelong friends in my fellow contestants. Will always be hard to top that (unless they let me back on!)”
Kahan got the call when he was in college.
“I was in the computer lab at Texas A&M when I got the call,” says Kahan. “I called my Dad and he didn’t answer. I then called him 9 times and left a message. That got his attention, and he called and we celebrated.”
Kyle was on the Jeopardy! College Championship 2010 and made it to the semifinals where he met the man he grew up watching for so many years - Alex Trebek.
“It was a dream,” says Kahan. “Getting to talk to him and have him say my name after each question. You’re in a dream.”
After Jeopardy!, Kahan attended Stanford Law School, but his affinity for game shows didn’t stop. While getting on one game show is an amazing accomplishment, he still sought more challenges.
In 2014, Kahan appeared on USA’s The Chase. He was featured on one of the program's most exciting episodes, but lost.
In 2017, he landed in the hot seat on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?
“I won $5,000 after missing a $20,000 question,” says Kahan.
His earnings from that popular game show paid for his honeymoon with his wife, Maddie.
For the last four years Kahan has been a federal prosecutor with the United State’s Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, specifically the Los Angeles office.
Kahan tries to make it home to Katy when he can, but admits that work and being a father to two young boys makes it difficult. When he is here, he loves to play tennis with his dad, eat amazing Vietnamese food, visit Katy Asia Town, and check out escape rooms.
Kahan says that his time growing up in Katy paved the path for his game show success.
Kyle's parents, Andy and Christine Kahan, moved to Katy in 1989 when he was four months old. Kyle Kahan still remembers being quizzed on state capitals sitting at the old Cattleguard, off of Highway 6 in Katy.
“Growing up in Katy provided me with the opportunity to explore my own path while getting a great education at Mayde Creek High School,” says Kahan. “From there, I was able to connect with my best friends and compete in our Academic Challenge team, also known as Quiz Bowl. That led me on a path that really allowed me to discover that trivia was a true passion of mine, especially when I could compete with or against friends.”
Kahan hopes that Katy area students will pursue time on game shows as he has.
“Be curious, be diligent, and be passionate,” advises Kahan. “Be curious about the trivia and categories you want to explore. Never be discouraged about not knowing something; it just means there's more stuff to learn about if you really take the time to study it, absorb it, and allow your brain to be able to put two and two together so that you can answer it correctly on a show.”
Tic, Tac, Dough is a one and done game show so while Kahan won the episode last night, he won’t continue on with the show.
“They want people with interesting hobbies, people who have traveled to interesting places, people with a story to share to the world,” says Kahan. “That is not only going to make you more worldly, but it will also let you be an expert in a niche area of trivia and make the scouts interested in putting you in front of a national audience.”
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