Cindy Stowell: Jeopardy Pays Tribute to Late Champion

Alex Trebek and the folks behind Jeopardy have paid special tribute to a special contestant.

As many followers of this world famous game show are aware of by now, Cindy Stowell recently competed on the program, despite a diagnosis of Stage 4 Colon Cancer.

Not only did she compete, Stowell won.

Over and over and over again.

The 41-year-old science content developer (from Austin, Texas) actually won a six games overall, donating her winnings to cancer research efforts.

Tragically, however, she died on December 5, prior to her winning efforts being televised for all to see.

The story, however, captured a nation; and it prompted Alex Trebek to record a message in honor of Stowell after her final episode aired on Wednesday night.

"This past six Jeopardy! programs, you folks have been getting to know the talented champion Cindy Stowell," Trebek says in the message.

"Appearing on the show was a lifelong ambition for that lady – what you did not know is that when we taped these programs with her a few weeks ago, she was suffering from stage 4 cancer, and sadly, on December 5, Cindy Stowell passed away.

"So from all of us here at Jeopardy!, our sincere condolences to her family and her friends."

And from all of us at The Hollywood Gossip, we say the same.

Watch Jeopardy salute this late champion below:

ReadMore…

Nina Dobrev and Austin Stowell: It"s Over!

It is all over for Nina Dobrev and Austin Stowell.

According to E! News, the attractive actress and very handsome actor have split after seven months of dating.

“It started to get hard with both of their schedules,” a source says of Dobrev and Stowell. “They remain on good terms.”

The former Vampire Diaries star was pretty open about the relationship, sharing a photo back in December of her and Stowell embracing during a ski vacation.

But we haven’t seen or heard much from them since and the same source explains why: this break up actually occurred a few weeks ago.

Over Valentine’s Day weekend, Dobrev hung out with her closest girlfriends and wrote as a caption to a picture on Instagram:

“Sunday Funday. #HappyGALentinesDay.”

Dobrev, of course, is best known romantically for having dated her ex-Vampire Diaries colleague Ian Somerhalder for a number of years.

He’s since moved way on, however, actually marrying Nikki Reed in early 2014; while Dobrev went public with Stowell in June.

The stars seemed pretty cute as a couple, but it can be challenging to find time to spend together in Hollywood.

We wish both sides the best and really hope to see Dobrev settled down and happy at some point. We love her.

View Slideshow: 33 Hot TV Couples Who Dated in Real Life

Nina Dobrev and Austin Stowell: Major PDA Alert!

Move over, Ian Somerhalder and Nikki Reed.

There’s another famous couple who would like to engage in some public displays of affection. And you know one half of it pretty darn well.

Nina Dobrev and Austin Stowell, who have been a romantic item for about six months, recently took a ski vacation together.

But the former Vampire Diaries star and Public Morals actor didn’t merely hit the slopes.

They clearly hit each other as well. In the sexual sense, that is!

Dobrev did not include a caption with the image above, but she also recently shared a collage on Instagram of her and her boyfriend having a blast together.

“Throwing it back to the other day when I baked a carrot birthday cake #HappyBirthday/Christmas#RudolphTheRedNosedAustin,” she wrote as an affiliated message to that picture.

Dobrev, of course, dated her Vampire Diaries co-star for many years.

But she and Somerhalder split back in 2013, much to the chagrin of fans of this CW drama.

They remained on good terms, however, though you can no longer watch The Vampire Diaries online and see Dobrev as Elena Gilbert because she departed the series after Season 6.

Somerhalder went on to marry Reed this past spring, with the two gushing over each other on social media every chance they get.

View Slideshow: 33 Hot TV Couples Who Dated in Real Life

That must have been hard on Dobrev, but she and Stowell went public with their relationship back in October… in the most adorable way possible.

First, Stowell posted a screenshot of his Twitte feed, writing:

“That awkward moment when you realize you don’t follow your girlfriend on Twitter #socialmediaproblems @ninadobrev.”

Dobrev then replied:

“That awkward moment when u realize ur not following him either&gotta do it realfast b4 he realizes.”

Nina Dobrev and Austin Stowell Go Public, Pose at Movie Premiere

Nina Dobrev and Austin Stowell have gone public with their romance.

The actress and the actor, who reportedly kissed while hanging out in June, attended the premiere of Bridge of Spies together over the weekend, turning all dating rumors into a romantic reality.

They look pretty comfortable and cozy with each other here, do they not?

Stowell plays a role in the wildly-anticipated film, which is directed by Steven Spielberg and which stars Tom Hanks.

Dobrev, of course, will forever be best known for her role as Elena Gilbert on The Vampire Diaries, though she departed the series this spring and will not be seen on The Vampire Diaries Season 7.

“You can tell how much they love each other just by the way they speak and their mannerisms toward one another,” an insider told E! News this summer.

“Austin is such a gentleman and treats Nina with such respect.”

Prior to getting with Stowell, Dobrev dated co-star Ian Somerhalder for a number of years, with some believing that awkwardness on set after their split contributed to Dobrev walking away from TVD.

We’ll never know if that was the case or not, but Somerhalder married Nikki Reed in April.

They’ve since gone on to gush about each other on a nearly daily basis via Instagram photos and messages.

We’ve been happy for Somerhalder and Reed and everything, but now we can be happy for Dobrev as well. Yay for everyone involved here!