YouTuber MrBeast announced his engagement to his girlfriend Thea Booysen on social media.
Happy news. MrBeast, the world’s most popular YouTuber with 340 million subscribers, proposed to his girlfriend Thea Booysen on Christmas Day. He announced the big news on Instagram on Wednesday, January 1, with a carousel of photos immortalizing the event. “Your boy did something,” he wrote in the caption of the photos in which the couple wear matching sweaters, celebrating the event in front of a tree surrounded by loved ones.
The bride-to-be also shared a video of her admiring her engagement ring, while sitting on MrBeast’s lap, with their dog joining in on the fun.
The videographer, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, explained that he had tried to cheat on his girlfriend shortly before, intentionally dropping a large box to create noise before giving her the real gift, with the ring inside . “I was trying to figure out the best way to surprise her, so that it would be a surprise. Thea is very close to her family, so I wanted to make sure they were included in this memorable event,” he said.
A promise kept
The couple met in 2022 during a MrBeast trip to South Africa, Thea Booysen’s home country. The two shared a dinner together and became friends. “When I met him, I was quite surprised to see how down to earth and also intelligent he was. I thought YouTubers were just some sort of character, but when I met him, I was quite surprised to see that he was actually a nice guy. He wasn’t sitting there with an ego,” she said.
After returning home, the content creator sent the young woman a private message on X asking her to read his book in progress, “The Marked Children,” once it was finished. She only responded to him a month later, not understanding that he was flirting with her. They then had a three-hour telephone conversation. “I knew then that he was the man for the job. I fell in love with his brain. For me, it’s a whole: his brain, his motivation, his discipline, his character. So after that, he immediately planned to come back to South Africa to meet me this time, and we started dating as soon as he arrived,” she said.
After their first public appearance at the Kids’ Choice Awards in April 2022, his partner told him that she wanted to be proposed to after graduation. True to this promise, MrBeast asked the question a month after finishing his master’s degree in human cognitive neuropsychology at the University of Edinburgh. Thea Booysen also holds a degree in law and a diploma with honors in psychology.
Despite his success as one of the highest-paid content creators in the world, the YouTuber wants their wedding to remain an intimate moment. “I don’t take much vacation time because of how hard I work, so I definitely want to make sure the wedding is a time to celebrate with her and spend time with friends and family that we truly love to be with. It will be the best way to take time for yourself and enjoy things,” he explained.
