The Truth About Alex Trebek's First Wife

Elaine Trebek Kares (pictured above right with daugther Nicky) and Alex Trebek split in 1981, before he started hosting Jeopardy! in 1984. Alex and Elaine remained so close post-divorce that he shared, "When my kids, Emily and Matthew, were in high school, Elaine would give them summer jobs," referring to the children he shares with his wife Jean Currivan Trebek (via The Answer Is . . .: Reflections on My Life). Alex further revealed, "There were never any problems whatsoever that made us curse each other. ... We have get-togethers every year, usually at our house. ... We're all a very close-knit, happy family."

After the divorce, Elaine started ScentSeal, which was a company that packaged perfume fragrances for samples, according to Distractify. In 1995, Arcade bought ScentSeal, per Ad Age. In addition to creating the fragrance samplers, the company also "added a solid polymer system for food and beverages" and worked with "Kraft Foods' International Coffees and Maxwell House, and Seagram Co.'s Seagram's Wine Coolers." When Arcade acquired ScentSeal, Elaine became the senior VP-worldwide in marketing for Arcade. 

Closer Weekly offered a glimpse into Elaine's pre- and post-Alex life, claiming she was also "a Canadian talk show host, party planner, and Playboy bunny" in the past — and in addition to ScentSeal, the outlet noted that she also owns "a multimedia music distributor Mag-A-Music, and Gallery GO, an art gallery in LA." She became Elaine Trebek Kares when she married producer Peter Kares in 2001. They made business deals together and continued a close friendship with Alex up until the very end. 

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