{"id":4071,"date":"2026-08-27T14:56:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:56:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=4071"},"modified":"2026-08-27T14:56:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T14:56:12","slug":"this-changed-his-life-forever-jeopardy-champion-jamie-ding-finally-breaks-silence-after-his-stunning-who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire-win-alongside-ben-affleck-left-fans-speechless-jamie-din","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thejoeroganpod.com\/?p=4071","title":{"rendered":"This Changed His Life Forever\u2026! Jeopardy! Champion Jamie Ding Finally Breaks Silence After His Stunning Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Win Alongside Ben Affleck Left Fans Speechless! Jamie Ding is finally opening up after the game-show moment that left viewers stunned."},"content":{"rendered":"

After\u00a0struggling on the $250,000 question\u00a0on\u00a0Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?<\/em>,\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>\u2018s\u00a0Jamie Ding\u00a0and actor\u00a0Ben Affleck\u00a0returned to try to finish out their game.<\/p>\n

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The two played together after\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>\u00a0host\u00a0Ken Jennings\u00a0and Affleck\u2019s best friend,\u00a0Matt Damon, played together last season and won the\u00a0$1 million for charity. Did this pair do the same? Read on to find out.<\/p>\n

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Plus, here\u2019s what Ding,\u00a0the bureaucrat, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, had to say about his time on the\u00a0game show, playing with Affleck,\u00a0being on\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>, and more.\u00a0WARNING: This post contains spoilers about the July 29 episode of\u00a0Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The $500,000 question read, \u201cWhat achievement occurred just two months after a New York Times article said it wouldn\u2019t happen for \u2018one million to ten million years\u2019?\u201d The options were splitting the atom, cloning a mammal, the first airplane flight, and the Polio vaccine.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThis one\u2019s tricky,\u201d Ding said. \u201cI feel like it might be C.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was my instinct,\u201d Affleck said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s D because that would just be mean. People were suffering,\u201d Ding said. The two men debated the answer. Affleck shared that he spent a good amount of time looking up things that the press got wrong.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn my subconscious, I remember the Wright brothers, but I\u2019m not sure,\u201d Affleck said. They decided to use their 50\/50 lifeline, which left them with splitting the atom and the first airplane flight. This caused Affleck to curse and Ding to sigh.<\/p>\n

Ding said that he felt like the first flight was more logical because he couldn\u2019t imagine what the New York Times might be writing about when talking about atoms. They locked in C and were correct.<\/p>\n

The $1 million question was \u201cIn an annual Thanksgiving tradition, all but which of these have been the names of turkeys pardoned by a U.S. President?\u201d The options were Peanut Butter and Jelly, Tater and Tot, Mac and Cheese, and Spaghetti and Meatball.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou must be kidding me,\u201d Affleck said. After some debate about which lifeline to use, the contestant decided to ask the host,\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel. He shared that he does a bit about this every year on\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel Live!<\/em>\u00a0He said he remembered all of them except for spaghetti and meatball because he would have made a joke about it.<\/p>\n

Even though they were sure Kimmel was right, they decided to phone Ding\u2019s friend, Stephen Morrison. Morrison said he would just be guessing, but didn\u2019t answer before the clock ran out.<\/p>\n

They decided to lock in on spaghetti and meatballs. They were right and won the $1 million.<\/p>\n

\"WHO <\/p>\n

Disney\/Eric McCandless<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Did you feel pressure going into\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0knowing Ken Jennings won $1 million?<\/b><\/p>\n

Jamie Ding:<\/strong>\u00a0Ooh, a little bit, especially because we were basically the spiritual successors to Ken and Matt. I really wanted to win. It would be nice that both Matt and Ben were\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0champs, and I mean it was also like a really nice vote of confidence from the producers to put me on as the follow-up to Ken. Definitely wanted to win. I always wanted to win, but there were some additional considerations this time.<\/p>\n

How do you feel now that you\u2019re kind of on the same level as Ken, since you both won the $1 million?<\/b><\/p>\n

Ooh, on the same level. Well, in the\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0context, it feels really pretty good. I\u2019m very pleased with how it turned out. We got some good breaks, and we also made the most of our opportunity. And I thought we were a good team.<\/p>\n

Did Ken give you any advice before going in?<\/b><\/p>\n

He did not.<\/p>\n

Did you pick Ben Affleck because Ken had picked Matt, and Matt and Ben are friends, or was there another reason why you picked Ben?<\/b><\/p>\n

So I didn\u2019t really pick Ben. I guess we were kind of an arranged marriage. But it was really cool when I found out that he was going to be my partner.<\/p>\n

If you were by yourself, do you think you would have dropped out on the Spanish festival question? Would you have used a lifeline?<\/b><\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to say because I\u2019m a bit of a hoarder, like when you play video games and you collect the different items. I\u2019m one of those people who collect a rare item and never, ever use it because they\u2019re so so rare. So, I probably would have used the lifeline if I didn\u2019t know it. But then also, I might have tried to chance it and saved that lifeline for later. Although on the other hand, there wasn\u2019t that much later left.<\/p>\n

Which would you say is harder:\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0of\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>?<\/b><\/p>\n

Jeopardy!<\/em>\u00a0definitely.\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0presents its own challenges because, as Ken mentioned it last year, and it\u2019s true, on\u00a0Jeopardy!,<\/em>\u00a0if you don\u2019t know a clue, there\u2019s a very good chance that you\u2019ll know the one that comes after that. It\u2019s rare that you absolutely 100% have to get something right on\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>\u00a0in order to advance, but that\u2019s true of every question on\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>. Watching the Davids play,\u00a0 I would have gone out on the one that they went out on because I would not have said diamonds.<\/p>\n

I guess the penalty for being wrong is much higher on\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>. But then on the other hand, in\u00a0Millionaire,<\/em>\u00a0it\u2019s multiple choice. You have to talk it out. You have a partner. You\u2019ve got lifelines, and you\u2019re typically sitting down, so those all help.<\/p>\n

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\u2018Jeopardy!\u2019 2027 Tournament of Champions: Who Has Qualified So Far?<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If you could have a lifeline on\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>, what would you pick? It doesn\u2019t have to be the\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0ones.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

I like phone a friend. It\u2019s nice to talk to people. It\u2019s amazing how phone a friend has just become part of the English language. Just goes to show the cultural impact that\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0has.<\/p>\n

How did you prepare or study for\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0compared to\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>?<\/b><\/p>\n

I did go back and watch the previous season. One thing I wanted to do was get a feel for what questions there might be and how they compared to\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>. I mean, it\u2019s mostly subject matter. I do think that in\u00a0Millionaire<\/em>\u00a0it\u2019s more common that it\u2019ll ask something like, \u201cWhat is the most or the highest-grossing, tallest, oldest, most recent?\u00a0Jeopardy!<\/em>\u00a0doesn\u2019t usually ask that without some additional clue, so that was different. And then I did notice what Ken did with regards to strategy, when he asked to use the audience lifeline. He said, \u201cDon\u2019t talk about your thoughts until after the audience is voted because you don\u2019t want to bias them,\u201d and that\u2019s something that I heard beforehand from the producers before Ben and I went out, and Ben and I also talked about that in our brief preparation session to avoid biasing the audience.<\/p>\n