Jessie James Decker returned to Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve with Ryan Seacrest for the fourth consecutive year as the official Powerball Correspondent.
Ringing in the New Year in the middle of Times Square in New York City, Decker was on hand to reveal the 2023 Powerball First Millionaire Of The Year winner.
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Decker, a mother of three and the wife of Eric Decker, went all-out for the occasion, sporting a sparkly neon animal print pantsuit and an updo hairstyle.
Ahead of the show, Decker modeled her sparkly NYE look on Instagram.
“It’s New Year’s Eve!! ✨ Who’s tuning in to @rockineve on @abcnetwork?! Had to show y’all my lewkkkkkk for the occasion, 🥂” Decker captioned a series of photos. “Getting ready to find out who will be the first Powerball Millionaire of the Year!!! 🎉🎉”
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Just minutes after the clock struck midnight, Decker announced Gary Krigbaum from North Carolina, as the winner of the POWERBALL First Millionaire of the Year drawing during the star-studded broadcast. Kringbaum was the $1 million winner randomly selected at the culmination of the national POWERBALL promotion.
“Congratulations to Gary Krigbaum for becoming the POWERBALL First Millionaire of the Year! This $1 million drawing brings us together every New Year to cheer for someone else’s good fortune,” said Drew Svitko, Powerball Product Group Chair and Pennsylvania Lottery Executive Director. “POWERBALL and its lottery partners look forward to creating even more winning moments like this one in 2023.”
While Krigbaum was unable to attend the event as he was sick, his daughter Sarah Day and her husband Josh Day went in their place to celebrate the big win.
For the first time since the inaugural event in 2019, the 29 finalists for the $1 million prize returned to New York City for a VIP experience, capped off by an exclusive New Year’s Eve gala in Times Square and the $1 million drawing. Each finalist entered a second-chance drawing or contest held by one of the 29 U.S. lotteries that participated in the promotion.
Participating lottery jurisdictions included Arizona, District of Columbia, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Last year, Rockin’ Eve took viewers to each of the five finalists’ hometowns before Brian Mineweaser from Honey Brook, Pennsylvania was named the 2022 POWERBALL First Millionaire of the Year. In 2021 and 2020, Carlos Mabry from Washington D.C. and Blaine Marston from Passadumkeag, Maine were named the $1 million winners, respectively.
Decker recently open up about serving as the Powerball Correspondent for the fourth consecutive year during an interview with Music Mayhem.
“Oh my goodness. Every year that I get to do this, I just pinch myself,” Decker said of the co-hosting gig. “It’s the most iconic New Year’s Eve show. I mean, they’ve mentioned it. It was a part of a Friends episode. I cannot believe that I get to do this every year alongside Ryan Seacrest and now Liza [Koshy]. Just so exciting.”
The Kittenish owner continued, “I love that I get the job of making and sharing with someone that they are the first millionaire of the year. I mean, there’s nothing like it. You get to know these contestants and hear their stories and what it means to them. And being able to tell someone that their lives are going to be forever changed is just such an important job, and it’s so special, and just there’s so much positive energy in the air that I look forward to it.”
She also shared her New Year’s resolution during the discussion, where she revealed that she wants “To continue health and fitness.”
“Of course, I wanna work a little less – only agree to do the really important things that I’m passionate about, which is obviously my music and cooking and my fashion stuff,” Decker added. “But I think continuing to take really fun adventurous trips with the kids is something Eric and I talked about.”
In addition to working less in 2023, Decker promised fans that this year will bring “more music” and hopes that her recently released duet “I Still Love You” with Billy Currington will impact Country radio at some point this year.
“More music. More music,” she promised. “And I’m really hoping that me and Billy [Currington]’s duet continues to take off. It is also an incredible start. My dream is for it to go to radio and become a number one smash and for [us] to be nominated for a Grammy. I’m just putting it out there into the universe first. That is my goal.”
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2023 also featured performances from Duran Duran, BTS’ J-Hope, New Edition, JAX, Wiz Khalifa, FINNEAS, Armani White, Betty Who, Dove Cameron, Nicky Youre, Billy Porter, Ciara, Fitz & The Tantrums, Maddie & Tae, Shaggy, Ben Platt, Aly & AJ, Halle Bailey, Tomorrow x Together, Bailey Zimmerman and Lauren Spencer Smith.
The L.A. Party festivities kicked off with six-time NYRE co-host and multi-platinum selling artist, Ciara, with Club Quarantine’s D-Nice spinning the turntables at the celebration.
The star-studded NYRE lineup also featured 18-time host and executive producer Ryan Seacrest in Times Square with two-time co-host Liza Koshy, co-host Billy Porter from New Orleans. Former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres led the festivities in Puerto Rico for the show’s first Spanish-language countdown.
Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve With Ryan Seacrest aired live on Saturday, December 31, at 8/7c via ABC Network.
