Ben Affleck and Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding teamed up on ABC’s Who Wants to Be a Millionaire this week and secured the show’s $1 million jackpot, turning a tense final decision into a seven-figure donation. The win stood out not for celebrity flash but for the mix of pop-culture cachet, expert quizzing and a last-minute call that sealed the outcome.
How the game reached the million-dollar moment
The contestants faced a Thanksgiving-related final question that asked which item had not been included in the annual presidential pardoning tradition. Four options were presented: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tater & Tot, Mac & Cheese, and Spaghetti & Meatball.
When Affleck and Ding stalled, they first used an Ask-the-Host lifeline. Host Jimmy Kimmel offered a guess but wasn’t fully certain. With only one lifeline left they made a Phone-A-Friend call to one of Ding’s Harvard-educated acquaintances, who declined to hazard an answer. Relying on Kimmel’s suggestion, the pair selected the one remaining choice and clinched the prize.
- Contestants: Ben Affleck and Jamie Ding
- Host: Jimmy Kimmel (Ask-the-Host used)
- Final question choices: Peanut Butter & Jelly; Tater & Tot; Mac & Cheese; Spaghetti & Meatball
- Lifelines used: Ask-the-Host, Phone-A-Friend
- Outcome: Chose Kimmel’s pick and won $1,000,000 for charity
- Beneficiary: Eastern Congo Initiative
Why this mattered
The airing highlighted several timely threads: celebrity participation in charity-focused episodes, the crossover appeal of quiz champions from other franchises, and the continuing entertainment value of lifeline drama. For viewers, the scene offered a compact lesson in risk management under pressure—a celebrity’s instinct plus a friend’s silence led to a philanthropic payoff.
The donation to the Eastern Congo Initiative gives the moment tangible consequence beyond TV ratings, redirecting attention to a nonprofit working in a region that rarely dominates mainstream headlines. For the show, pairing a movie star with a recent quiz champion created an unusual pairing that proved decisive on-air.
After the buzzer
The episode ended with the celebratory reveal and the customary acknowledgment of the charity recipient. The winning sequence was shown during the broadcast and quickly circulated across social platforms and entertainment outlets.
Whether the highlight will prompt more mixed celebrity-quiz pairings remains to be seen, but for now the combination of star power and quiz show expertise produced both a memorable television moment and a sizable gift to charity.
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Hello, I’m Beckett. I cover series and show news for you to make your evenings more captivating.