Celebrity1 min(s) read
Published 17:14 02 Dec 2020 GMT
David Chang has become the first celebrity to win the top prize on 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?' and is donating his winnings to restaurant workers.
As per CNN, Chang says that he knows that it will make a life-changing difference to those who have been affected by the ongoing pandemic.
During the tense last moments of Chang's episode, which aired on Sunday, host Jimmy Kimmel waited with bated breath as he struggled with the final question of the show.
Watch Chang make his million-dollar win in the video below:
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"No (celebrity) has ever gone for it," Kimmel said. "They've all walked away."
Chang was asked to name the first US president to have electricity in the White House to win a million dollars.
"This is the most painful, nervous - this is terrifying," Chang says in a clip from the episode.
Unsure of the answer, Chang decided to phone a friend - ESPN journalist Mina Kimes - and she correctly advised him that the answer was President Benjamin Harrison, even though Chang himself wasn't sure whether Harrison was even a president.
When Chang won, he jumped from his chair in joy, and writer and director Alan Yang presented him with the giant cheque for a million dollars.
"Always wanted to hold a giant check on television," Yang later wrote on Twitter, alongside a picture of himself, Kimmel, and the check. "Thanks @MillionaireTV! Asian trivia dream team ftw."
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CNN reports that Chang had always planned to donate his winnings to Southern Smoke Foundation, a crisis relief organization for people in the hospital industry, and had he not answered the final question, he would have walked away with half a million dollars.
But instead, he decided to risk it all to double the prize.
"Having a million dollars right now in this moment, is a game-changer for many, many families," Chang says in the video clip of the episode. "And yes, half a million is as well - and I want to say 'No, just take the money!' - but I'm not."
Stay-at-home orders in the US forced many restaurants and bars to close during the pandemic, CNN reports, despite them being classed as essential businesses by the government.
"Since the government won't help out restaurant workers...we have to do what we can to help out," Chang tweeted on Sunday in a thread about winning on the show.
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He added: "Thank you @alanyang and @minakimes for being so much smarter then me!!! Always good to have friends that did well in school!! [sic]"
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According to its website, The Southern Smoke Foundation has distributed $5.7 million to people nationwide since it was established in 2015.
"To date, Southern Smoke has distributed more than $5.7 million, both directly to people in need via the Emergency Relief Fund and to organizations that represent the needs of people in our industry," the organization says.
