Jimmy Kimmel forced to ‘calm down’ Who Wants to be a Millionaire? celeb contestant after set mishap interrupts filming

Viewers at home didn’t get to see the tense moment as it was cut from the episode

JIMMY Kimmel was forced to ‘calm down’ a Who Wants to be a Millionaire? celebrity contestant after there was a set mishap that interrupted filming.

On the current season of the ABC game show, superstar celebrities have been paired together in hopes of scoring a whopping $1 million for the charity of their choice.

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Jimmy Kimmel has hosted Who Wants to be a Millionaire? since 2020Credit: Getty

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Helen Hunt and Dan Bucatinsky competed together on Who Wants to be a Millionaire?Credit: ABC
Trivia legend Ken Jennings, 51, took a break from hosting Jeopardy! to perform on the season opener alongside Matt Damon, 54.

Together, the stars were able to make it all the way to the end and scored the $1 million prize for water.org.

More recently, Oscar winner Helen Hunt and her Hacks co-star Dan Bucatinsky made their best effort to win the seven-figure check for the charity of their choice.

The pair did not have as seamless a time rolling through all the questions as Ken and Matt, and they struggled during one tense moment that didn’t make it to air.

According to an eye-witness, Helen and Dan grappled for “well over 10 minutes” with a single question – leading to long awkward silences on set.

“The ‘Judicial handshake’ is a U.S. Supreme Court tradition in which all nine justices shake hands with each other, for a total of how many handshakes?” host Jimmy asked.

The answer options given were: A) 18, B) 25, C) 36, and D) 57.

Both Helen and Dan took issue with the math it took to solve the equation.

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Helen Hunt and Dan Bucatinsky struggle to answer a math questionCredit: ABC

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Jimmy Kimmel hosts the current season of Who Wants to be a MillionaireCredit: ABC
Their inability to answer the question led to long pauses and tense moments of silent on set, according to an eyewitness.

The insider claimed that at one point, the audience was getting so frustrated with their inability to give an answer, there were “groans” coming from the crowd.

After a few more minutes, the source said the silence got even quieter – and you could “hear a pin drop” on set.

During a moment of intense focus and complete silence, Dan was seen jumping out of his seat after he was startled by a loud bang that was heard on set.

Jimmy immediately tried to calm Dan down and assured him that the unexpected noise was the air conditioning unit.

After a moment of pausing to reassess following the interruption, the trio continued to play the game – though Dan and Helen were still unsure of their answer.

They ended up asking the audience, of which an overwhelming 74% answered that the number for the judicial handshake would be C) 36.

The answer was correct, and their hopes of making it to the end lived on.

Although they moved on to the next question, their winning streak soon ended.

Still, the actors were able to take home $125,000 for the St. Joseph Center and the Trevor Project.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire hosts

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire has on and off the air since 1999.

Here is a list of the hosts of the US game show:

Regis Philbin
Meridith Vieria
Cedric the Entertainer
Terry Crews
Chris Harrison
Jimmy Kimmel

Helen and Dan appeared alongside each other in the most recent Hacks season.

Host Jimmy also made a cameo on a Hacks episode in season 4 – making this episode a reunion for the talented trio.

Jimmy was first tapped to host Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?‘s revival in 2020.

He returned again in 2021 to lead the show; however, the ABC game show took a break and remained off the air in 2022 and 2023.

For the franchise’s 25th anniversary, Jimmy returned to host the program once again in 2024.

He continues to host the series, which has moved from civilian contestants to an all-celebrity lineup.

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire airs on Wednesdays at 8 pm EST on ABC.

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Ken Jennings and Matt Damon perform on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Credit: ABC

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Jimmy Kimmel hosts Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Credit: ABC