It’s been a week of highs and lows for actress Mira Sorvino who, one day after an unexpected exit from Dancing With the Stars, appeared on an episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! that she ended up winning.
It took a bold bet for the Oscar winner to hang on for the win in Celebrity Jeopardy!, where she ended up joining a pretty exclusive club. All that happened just one night after becoming the fifth person voted off this season’s DWTS. Here’s a look at how Sorvino’s week has gone so far.
Dancing With the Stars
On Tuesday’s DWTS, the theme of the night was Most Memorable Year for the remaining 10 celebrity dancers, and Sorvino chose the year 2004 because it’s when her daughter, Mattea, was born. She and partner Gleb Savchenko ended up having Mattea — who’s also a dancer — in the performance with them as they danced a contemporary routine to Cyndi Lauper’s “Time After Time.”
The dance scored 22 out of 30 which was only good enough for eighth place out of 10, but the show also factors in a fan vote. And when it came time to eliminate someone, Sorvino heard her name called and seemed sincerely upset about it.
“It’s been incredible. It’s been lots of dreams come true and I’m very grateful,” she said, fighting back tears.
Celebrity Jeopardy!
Sorvino was playing alongside actor Adam Rodriguez and NFL Network personality Peter Schrager. During her interview portion early in the night, Sorvino said to Jennings that she had been practicing for the show using the Jeopardy! game app, but that she didn’t want to “splurge” for the paid version so it was constantly being interrupted with ads.
Jennings tried to make her feel better by saying that the actual show is also interrupted by commercials so it’s kind of like the real thing, to which she politely nodded in agreement.
Later the host informed Sorvino that not only has she been a Jeopardy! clue nine times, she is only the second Oscar winner to appear on Celebrity Jeopardy! after Jodie Foster, which Jennings said is “good company.”
“That’s daunting company,” Sorvino said. “That’s cool.”
Heading into Final Jeopardy, Sorvino’s $12,200 gave her a $400 lead over Schrager. The category was Tween Lit and the answer — which all three contestants got correct — was “Who is Judy Blume?”
Schrager went from $11,800 to $19,000 with his wager, so Sorvino needed a big bet to go with her correct answer in order to win, and sure enough she bet all but $200 of her $12,200, ending up with $24,200 and better than $5,000 more than Schrager.
“And now there are two people in the world who have a Celebrity Jeopardy! win and an Academy Award, Jodie Foster and Mira Sorvino,” Jennings announced. “Congratulations.”
Sorvino was playing for the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, which grants money to service organizations all across the globe helping victims and survivors of human trafficking rebuild and reclaim their lives.
Viewers reacting on social media loved the bounce back for Sorvino, who now advances to the semi-finals in this celebrity tournament and is still in the running to earn a $1 million grand prize for her charity.
Dancing With the Stars airs Tuesdays and Celebrity Jeopardy! airs Wednesdays on ABC.
