After his win on Celebrity Weakest Link, Scott Porter is breaking down his strategy — and defending some of his surprisingly wrong answers.
Porter, 46, who was competing to raise money for Huntington’s Disease Society of America, exclusively told Us Weekly about the moment he realized he could come out on top during the Monday, October 13, episode of the Fox gameshow.
“I was very fortunate in my final five questions that my knowledge base is wide enough to be able to get a bunch of those right,” he recalled. “I didn’t so much feel the pressure of that moment as much as a clarity of ‘Not only did I come here to raise awareness for Huntington’s but I think I might be able to take some of this home for the cause.”
The actor felt “a little bit of a clarity” kick in.
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“I played football in high school and was recruited to play football in college. So I have a very competitive nature about me. When the big moments happen, sometimes everything just goes quiet,” he recalled. “It was just the clarity and quiet of the moment. The knowledge base came into play later but the overall game strategy was way more important in this episode.”
Porter’s episode of Celebrity Weakest Link allowed him to compete alongside other actors from various teen shows, including former Friday Night Lights costar Aimee Teegarden, Shenae Grimes and Matt Lanter from 90210, Beverly Mitchell and Barry Watson from 7th Heaven and more.
“With a game like Weakest Link, people want to try and study but it’s really difficult to study for a catch-all trivia show like this. What I would recommend for people who are going on a show like this is to study game theory and to really understand the way the game works: the ins and outs,” Porter explained to Us. “So if you’re wrong — or if you’re going to be wrong — know it very quickly and just say the wrong answer or pass because the most important thing is keeping that time on the clock so the answers you do know can be answered and the money you can make can be banked.”
Porter did extensive research before participating in the show, adding, “For me, it was more about making sure to figure out a way to maximize my ability to not only bank money but keep time on the clock. That research did me some good because I ended up being the strongest link in a few rounds. The other part of Weakest Link is there’s a little bit of Survivor. There are little mini alliances that are going to form that were magnified on my particular episode because we had pairs from different TV shows. You had automatic alliances already set up that I knew I had to be aware of and I had to try to eliminate pieces to keep myself on the show — to give me a shot at being there in the end.”
He continued: “When you watch the show, you see some people sandbag a little bit. They’ll act like they’re not as smart as they are so that if they get to the final three, they’ll have a good shot of being in the final pair. I didn’t so much do that as to try and whittle down the alliance chances. I think it played out in my favor.”
While Porter ultimately made it into the final three — and then won — he didn’t get every question right. Some of the ones that stuck out include a question about Ariana Grande‘s music and a Hooters-related inquiry.
“I could have gotten there [with the Ariana question]. But if you’re gonna be wrong, be fast. You’re looking at the clock and you’re trying to make sure that the money’s been banked. I’m not hurting the team by just getting this wrong and getting it to somebody who can get a question correctly quickly,” he noted. “The other one that I think people are going to really come at me for is the Hooters question. That’s the one that actually stuck with me. The Ariana Grande one didn’t stick with me as much, but the scantily clad waitresses at this restaurant that filed for bankruptcy last year. It was Hooters. But I said French Laundry.”
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Porter continued: “I actually knew Hooters. I went to high school in college in Florida, which is where it’s from. There are stadiums named for that restaurant chain and we used to do our fantasy football drafts there. But when the word scantily clad came to mind, I started thinking about lingerie. Then the word association took me to laundry, which took me to French Laundry. That is a Michelin star restaurant — and definitely not a trashy wing place. That one just made me giggle and is the one that most people are going to be laughing the most at.”
Despite the occasional wrong answer, Porter was proud to see his approach work out when the $50,000 prize went to his charity.
“This was a win-win situation. I’m a competitor, I love games and I’ve watched the Weakest Link. When they tell you that you can play for a charity of your choosing, it makes it even more meaningful. The cause I chose to play for is the Huntington’s Disease Society of America, which helps support families who are battling Huntington’s and helps to try and find a cure for this awful disease,” he told Us. “I’ve been a part of raising millions of dollars for research and for supporting families who are battling it. The reason it’s so personal to me is my mother-in-law and my wife [Kelsey Mayfield] are both positive for Huntington’s.”
Porter has spent years raising awareness and money for a cure.
“My mother-in-law is symptomatic and my wife is what they call gene positive, which means the disease will be a part of our future unless we find a cure for it. So now — more than ever — after some announcements a couple of weeks ago, we’ve had some very, very promising and hopeful success within some trials in a way to limit the Huntington gene,” he added. “It’s just more important than ever to raise awareness, and raise money. When you go on a show like this, you’re not guaranteed to win but you are guaranteed to hopefully raise awareness of what Huntington’s actually is. It was something that was very meaningful to me and to go and compete made it even sweeter.”
For more information on Huntington’s disease — including ways to support and donate — head to hdsa.org.
Celebrity Weakest Link airs Mondays on Fox at 9 p.m. ET.
