Ben Affleck wins million-dollar prize on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

By Pierra Willix, Press Association Senior Entertainment Reporter

Ben Affleck has won the million-dollar (€870,000) top prize on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

The Hollywood actor, 53, competed on the US version of the game show alongside Jeopardy! champion Jamie Ding.

The money was pledged to Affleck’s non-profit foundation, the Eastern Congo Initiative.

At the start of the episode Affleck explained that the organisation supports community-based organisations in the African region, which he said had been “severely impacted by a very traumatic war”.

After appearing on the previous episode, Affleck and Ding had two more questions before securing the jackpot.

The €500,000 question was: “What achievement occurred just two months after a New York Times article said it wouldn’t happen for one million to 10 million years?”

The possible answers were: splitting the atom, cloning a mammal, the first aeroplane flight, or the polio vaccine.

Ding immediately said C – the first plane flight – and Affleck agreed.

https://x.com/EasternCongo/status/2082141601527206073?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

The actor said: “I only remember this because it was a time in my life where I spent time looking up examples that the press got things wrong. Yeah, just randomly. And I sort of, vaguely, in my subconscious, remember The Times and the Wright brothers and that whole thing was 1905, 3 or 4, or something.”

Ding said: “I think ‘03,” which prompted host Jimmy Kimmel to joke he was “so much smarter than Matt”, referring to Affleck’s close friend Matt Damon, who competed on the show last year with Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings and also won a million dollars.

However, the pair were not completely confident and used their 50:50 lifeline to eliminate two incorrect answers, leaving the options of splitting the atom and the first plane flight.

They correctly chose the latter, giving them the chance at the million-dollar question, which was: “In an annual Thanksgiving tradition, all but which of these have been the names of turkeys pardoned by a US president?”

The possible answers were: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Tater & Tot, Mac & Cheese, and Spaghetti & Meatball.

Affleck and Ding used their Ask-the-Host lifeline, with Kimmel backing the final option.

Using their final lifeline – Phone-A-Friend – they called one of Ding’s friends, but he did not answer in time.

Backing the answer chosen by Kimmel, they opted for Spaghetti & Meatball and won a million dollars, before being covered in confetti and being handed a huge cheque for the foundation.

Other celebrity contestants featured on this season of the game show have included Jesse Eisenberg, Michael Keaton, Awkwafina, Leslie Odom Jr and Colin Jost.

Other celebrity pairs to win the million dollars have included Ike and Alan Barinholtz in 2024, and Oscar Nunez and Kate Flannery in 2025.