Ben Affleck just won $1 million on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with an unlikely assist

Ben Affleck in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Image Via: YouTube/ABC
Ben Affleck in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire | Image Via: YouTube/ABC

The latest Who Wants to Be a Millionaire episode was an absolute blast as Ben Affleck teamed up with Jamie Ding, the man who won 31 consecutive episodes of Jeopardy! early this year. That streak broke in April; however, it seems that the New Jersey state government employee is back with his lucky streak, as he won this night's game show as well, which was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel.

The Argo filmmaker and Jeopardy! alum teamed up for a Who Wants to Be a Millionaire episode that was raising funds for Affleck’s charity, the Eastern Congo Initiative. The duo of Affleck and Ding were doing fine until they encountered a unique final question that was worth a million dollars.


How did Ben Affleck and Jamie Ding win Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Affleck and Ding | Image Via: Instagram/@millionairetv
Affleck and Ding | Image Via: Instagram/@millionairetv

The tense final question that Ding and Affleck encountered read the following:

“In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, all but which of these have been the names of turkeys pardoned by a U.S. president?”

It had four options, namely

A) Peanut Butter & Jelly

B) Tater & Tot

C) Mac & Cheese

D) Spaghetti & Meatball

The two participants were clearly flabbergasted by this final question; thus, they used two lifelines for it. First, they used the Ask-the-Host lifeline, in which they asked Who Wants to Be a Millionaire host Jimmy Kimmel for help. Kimmel himself wasn't sure but chose option D, "Spaghetti & Meatball".

Kimmel's uncertainty is why the two participants opted for another lifeline: Phone-A-Friend. Ding chose to call his well-read trivia teammate, Stephen Morrison. While introducing his friend Stephen to Kimmel, Ding slyly referenced the host's fake rivalry with Ben Affleck's best friend, Matt Damon. Then, the duo finally called Morrison for the answer, but Stephen himself revealed that he was unaware, leaving Affleck and Ding without an answer.

As they remained without an answer, Ding and Affleck had nothing but guesswork to go by. Thus began one of the most tense minutes in the history of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. The duo of Affleck and Ding chose "Spaghetti & Meatball" for the answer, the same one Kimmel guessed earlier. After its selection, Kimmel, Affleck, and Ding all patiently waited for the confirmation.

The confirmation came twenty-odd seconds later when it was revealed that Spaghetti & Meatball was indeed the answer to this challenging question, fetching them a million dollars.


Who is Jamie Ding?

Ding is an icon among Jeopardy! viewers as he won 31 back-to-back episodes of the popular game show. Even though he finally lost his winning Jeopardy! streak in April, Ding created history with his consecutive wins. Thus, the N.J. government employee was a niche icon amongst reality TV fans by the time he entered the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted quiz show.

Ding's win this week is going to make him even more popular amongst those who follow reality TV.


Did you watch the latest episode? If you haven't, you can catch it online or on streaming platforms.

Read More:

Top 10 longest Jeopardy! streaks explored

Edited by Ravikumar N