Helen Hunt’s Millionaire Win Proves Trusting Instincts Pays Off
So, here’s the story. On the latest episode of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire , Helen Hunt and Dan Bucatinsky walked away with a cool $125,000 for charity—and they did it by trusting their instincts rather than the host’s advice. The episode aired August 13, 2025, and the stakes were high because the money was going to two important causes: St. Joseph Centre, which helps feed and house the homeless, and The Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention among LGBTQ+ youth.
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The way it played out was pure game show drama. Helen and Dan breezed through the first eight questions without touching a single lifeline. Their first assist came on a $16,000 question about the CROWN Act title, where they used the 50/50 lifeline to narrow their options. Then at $64,000, they phoned former Jeopardy! champ Tim Lopez, who nailed the answer instantly—Helen even joked with Jimmy Kimmel, the host, asking if that wasn’t the best Phone a Friend in the show’s history.
From there, the lifelines got used up quickly. By the time they reached the daunting $250,000 question, only “Ask the Audience” and “Ask the Host” were left. The audience poll didn’t help much—it was a math question, and the results weren’t convincing. So, they turned to Jimmy. He offered what he believed was the right answer, but Helen and Dan weren’t buying it.
That’s when the real tension hit. They could risk it all and potentially drop to $32,000, or walk away with $125,000 locked in. After some serious thinking, they decided to quit. And thank goodness they did—Jimmy’s answer was wrong. If they’d followed it, most of their winnings would have vanished. Instead, they left with a big check for their charities and a great story to tell.
The episode also featured Adam Devine and Anders Holm, but their strategy didn’t pay off. They tried to save lifelines for the late game and ended up facing a $125,000 question about which celebrity turned down the role of Han Solo. Anders guessed Robert Redford, thinking he’d read that somewhere, but the correct answer was Al Pacino. They lost and fell back to $32,000—without ever using the lifelines they’d been guarding.
In the end, Helen and Dan’s run was a perfect example of why gut instinct can sometimes be worth more than expert advice, especially when the “expert” in the hot seat is the host himself. And for their charities, that decision made all the difference.
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