Steve Granitz/WireImageCars are nice, but...
Ellen DeGeneres just pulled an Oprah Winfrey for one lucky family; On The Ellen DeGeneres Show this week, Ellen presented them with the biggest gift she has ever bestowed on her series; $1 million!
Last November, fans Christi Daniels and Robert Daniels, parents of four sons, won prizes such as thousands of dollars in gift cards, a huge widescreen TV and two plane tickets as part of the show's 12 Days of Giveaways campaign, for their work giving back to their community, despite their own financial problems.
On her show, the Daniels family was shown being surprised at their apartment in Hawthorne, California and told them to get ready to go to a mystery location. The group was then driven to the Ellen DeGeneres Show taping. They sat onstage with Ellen, who praised them.
"No matter what you're struggling with, no matter how you're living paycheck to paycheck, you still want to pay it forward, you still help others," Ellen said, noting how Christi recently paid for a family's item at Walmart.
"You're here because we're gonna do something big that we've never done for any family ever," the talk show host said. "It's the biggest thing we've ever done...so, you like Cheerios?"
Ellen then informed the family that she has partnered with the makers of Cheerios to give them $500,000. A man then ran onstage with a giant check.
"That is gonna take care of a lot," Ellen said. "It's gonna take care of your debt, it is gonna take care of college for your kids. You're in a two-bedroom apartment, you can buy a house now."
She said Cheerios is also giving the family another $500,000 to pay it forward to others in need. Ellen then brought out the family's other relatives onstage.
Watch the video to see the family members' reactions!
In 2004, Oprah famously gave away on her talk show Pontiac G-6 sedans, worth $28,500 each, to 276 audience members.