YouTuber MrBeast announces engagement to Thea Booysen
The YouTuber revealed that he'd proposed on Christmas Day, sharing photos of the moment on Instagram
YouTuber MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is now engaged. He shared the news on Instagram, revealing that he proposed to his girlfriend, Thea Booysen, on Christmas Day.
"Ya boy did a thing," Donaldson wrote in his post.
In an interview, Donaldson explained the proposal: "I intentionally dropped a large box to make noise before presenting the real gift — with the ring inside — to her. And then I went down on a knee and proposed." He added that the moment took place while Booysen's family was visiting.
Booysen described the proposal, saying, "My family flew out from South Africa for Christmas and we were going to do Christmas in our house so both families were here. We were opening presents, and then for the very last present, he asked me to close my eyes because it was a surprise."
Donaldson, with 340 million subscribers, is the most popular YouTuber in the world. Booysen also runs her own channel, TheaBeasty, which has almost 40,000 subscribers. The couple met in 2022 when Donaldson visited South Africa, where a mutual friend introduced him to Booysen over dinner.
The engagement comes amid ongoing controversies surrounding Donaldson. The Ontario labour ministry is currently investigating an industrial accident on the set of his newly released Prime Video competition series, Beast Games. The incident, involving a worker who was injured by falling wood on Sept. 11, occurred on the set, a miniature village built on the grounds of the former Downsview Airport. Safety complaints were also raised during an earlier production of the game show in Las Vegas, where contestants reported a chaotic environment with limited access to food, water, and medication.
In addition, Donaldson’s company faced controversy in July 2024 when Ava Tyson, a long-time collaborator, left after accusations surfaced that she sent inappropriate sexual messages to a minor when she was 20. Tyson, now 28, denied the allegations of grooming, and she and Donaldson mutually agreed that she should leave the company.
Amid these challenges, Donaldson initiated a full assessment of the internal culture within his YouTube empire and an investigation into allegations of inappropriate behaviour by individuals in his company.
Booysen has publicly defended Donaldson, stating on her YouTube channel in August that she "wouldn't be with him" if the allegations were true.
Looking ahead, the couple shared plans to have a "more private" ceremony.
