Thirty-one game “Jeopardy!” champ Jamie Ding and movie star Ben Affleck were in a good position by the time they got to the $500,000 question on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.”
The unlikely duo had cruised through the previous questions with relative ease, only using one of their four lifelines. And although Affleck had said early on he was just there to ride Ding’s coattails, the actor pulled out a surprising save on the $250,000 question.
Wednesday night’s episode of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” picked up after Affleck’s shining moment, starting with the $500,000 question — just two questions away from the $1 million prize.
Here’s a look at what happened during their final moments on the show.
Did Jamie Ding, Ben Affleck win $1 million?
At the $500,000 threshold, Ding and Affleck needed to deliberate a little more.
The question: “What achievement occurred just two months after a New York Times article said it wouldn’t happen for ‘1 million to 10 million years’?”
- Splitting the atom
- Cloning a mammal
- First airplane flight
- Polio vaccine
Both Affleck and Ding said they were leaning toward the first airplane flight as their answer. Affleck, specifically, said there’d been a time in his life when he was looking up things the press had gotten wrong and thought he remembered reading about the first airplane flight.
He wasn’t 100% certain, though, and thought splitting the atom could also be a contender.
So the pair opted to use the 50-50 lifeline to cut their possible answers in half.
The two answers left on the board: First airplane flight and splitting the atom.
Although the lifeline didn’t prove to be helpful, Ding supported moving forward with the first airplane flight, using the rationale that The New York Times would likely have drawn in more readers with that topic than splitting the atom.
Affleck and Ding’s instincts were right. After hugging each other in celebration, the pair then faced the final question of the game.
The $1 million question: “In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, all but which of these have been the names of turkeys pardoned by a U.S. president?”
- Peanut Butter & Jelly
- Tater & Tot
- Mac & Cheese
- Spaghetti & Meatball
“You must be kidding me,” Affleck said after host Jimmy Kimmel read the question aloud.
Both Ding and Affleck appeared completely stumped on this question, so they opted to use their ask the host lifeline — which ended up being a good choice considering Kimmel does a bit on the turkey pardoning ceremony each year.
“This is the person who would actually be paying attention to every pardoned turkey,” Affleck said with excitement. “This is the best person in the world to ask this question to!”
Kimmel said he wasn’t completely certain, but had a hunch it was Spaghetti and Meatball.
“And if I’m wrong, I’m so sorry,” the host said.
Affleck was confident they could lock in Kimmel’s answer, but since they still had the phone-a-friend lifeline at their disposal, they opted to call Ding’s friend and trivia teammate since high school.
Ding’s friend said his answer would be a “wild guess,” and the 30-second time limit ran out before he could even make that guess.
With all of their lifelines used up, the pair decided to move forward on Kimmel’s hunch.
“I have such a stomachache right now,” Kimmel said with a laugh.
After a dramatic pause, the computer revealed that Kimmel’s educated guess was in fact correct. Ding and Affleck leapt out of their seats and started hugging each other and jumping up and down for joy.
The $1 million win goes toward Affleck’s charity, Eastern Congo Initiative, and mirrors last season, when “Jeopardy!” host and 74-game champ Ken Jennings won $1 million on the show with Matt Damon.
What other questions did Jamie Ding and Ben Affleck answer?
Here are a few other questions Ding and Affleck encountered during their run on the show (answers are at the very bottom):
The $4,000 question: “The inspiration for the word ‘crater,’ a ‘krater’ was a type of what in ancient Greece?”
- Robe
- Bowl
- Sword
- Sundial
The $8,000 question: “Pope Leo XIV broke Vatican protocol in 2025 when he wore a cap of what favorite baseball team?”
- Los Angeles Dodgers
- Chicago White Sox
- St. Louis Cardinals
- Houston Astros
The $16,000 question: “The expression ‘X marks the spot’ was popularized after its use in what classic book?”
- “Treasure Island”
- “The Great Gatsby”
- “Little Women”
- “Animal Farm”
The $64,000 question: “Though she didn’t give him a songwriting credit, Billie Eilish quoted which philosopher in the lyrics to her hit, ‘Therefore I Am’?”
- Friedrich Nietzsche
- Immanuel Kant
- Aristotle
- René Descartes
The $125,000 question: “Engineer Joseph Strauss wrote a poem titled ‘The Mighty Task is Done’ to commemorate the completion of what landmark that opened in 1937?”
- Gateway Arch
- Empire State Building
- Panama Canal
- Golden Gate Bridge
Who else is competing on ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’?
Below is the full celebrity lineup for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire,” which features everything from a “Seinfeld” reunion to country superstar Brad Paisley:
- Larry and Cazzie David
- Ding and Affleck
- Jason Alexander and Wayne Knight
- Michael Keaton and Jon Lovett
- Jesse Eisenberg and Paul Giamatti
- Billy Porter and Leslie Odom Jr.
- Awkwafina and Paul Feig
- Colin Jost and Michael Che
- Will Forte and Taran Killam
- Brad Paisley and Clayton Kershaw
- Tig Notaro and Pete Holmes
- Krysten Ritter and Sarah Shahi
- Timothy Simons and Jackie Tohn
- Michael Kosta and Wendi McLendon-Covey
- Brooks Nader and Sarah Jane Nader
- Paul Scheer and Rob Huebel
(Answers: Bowl; Chicago White Sox; “Treasure Island”; René Descartes; Golden Gate Bridge)