Tiffany Weaver and Steven England were two of the 1,000 contestants competing for a $5 million cash prize on the new Amazon Prime reality competition show “Beast Games,” hosted by YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast.
While the couple didn’t win the largest money show prize in reality TV history, they came home with a sweet prize regardless: They got engaged during the filming of the show.
As England was in the midst of being eliminated from the show during the first episode, which aired Dec. 19, 2024, he spontaneously proposed to Weaver, a Rainier resident who made it through to the third episode before being eliminated.
“I knew I wanted to marry her eventually, but being up there on the stage, realizing that she’s going to be there and I’m going to be leaving and I don’t get to say goodbye to her, this was a huge opportunity to make a big display of how much I love her,” England said.
England, who is from Wenatchee, took a nearly $20,000 bribe from MrBeast that cost him his spot on the show, and when the idea to pop the question struck his brain, he had to scramble to make it happen. He pulled MrBeast aside and asked for permission, which was granted, and he then had to scrounge the pool of contestants for a ring to borrow. Someone allowed him to use their ring, and he went to work.
“I’m out on my platform and I see Steve up on the big screen. I realized they started miking him back up, and all the people around me were like, ‘I think he’s getting ready to propose,’” Weaver said. “The cameras showed up around my platform on me, and the next thing I know, you got the MMA fighter strutting down the aisle with Jimmy, and everybody’s screaming and cheering.”
Once Weaver said yes, England gave her a hug and whispered, ‘That’s not my ring,’ into her ear. As he turned to walk away, he slipped it off her finger and gave it back.
The couple, who have been together since early 2024, had to keep their engagement, as well as their involvement in “Beast Games,” a secret from nearly everyone.
Weaver, a doctoral student at Liberty University, was finishing a final paper for a class when she received an email to apply for the show, and she quickly forwarded it to her kids. Since the teenage boys weren’t old enough, they encouraged her to apply instead. After finishing her paper, she recorded a quick video audition and filled out the application.
The next day, Weaver received a call from the casting company offering her a chance to be on the show while she was at her kids’ Boy Scout car wash at Jiffy Lube in Yelm. But the producer asked a couple of questions that rang in her head from when she got the call to when they left for Las Vegas in July.
“She asked, ‘Are you afraid of being buried alive, do you know how to swim, and do you have any phobias?’ I was like, ‘Nope, I’m good,’ but I was terrified of all that stuff,” Weaver said.
Weaver told England to apply as well, and once he submitted his application, he received a confirmation call days later. Weaver’s kids gave them both advice for their appearance on “Beast Games.”
“They said, ‘Mom, don’t be a baby. And Steve, you do you. You’re gonna be just fine,’” England said.
The couple had no idea what to expect before they were supposed to film in July. They knew they would be going to Las Vegas, but that’s where their expectations ended. They weren’t allowed to leave their hotel unless it was to eat meals, and if they were wearing their uniforms, they had to wear trash bags from head to toe to hide their involvement in the show. They also couldn’t communicate with family or friends unless it was an emergency.
England only had a certain amount of time to take off from work, so he knew his exit would have to be early.
“I thought we were just gonna go film a video and it was gonna be fun. I really didn’t think it through until it started getting closer to the time, and then we’re like, ‘Oh man, we’ve gotta have a place for the kids and projects at work have to be in a place where I can walk away,’” England said.
The couple first arrived in Vegas to shoot the preliminary series of challenges between 2,000 competitors for a standalone YouTube video on MrBeast’s channel, and the 1,000 survivors qualified for the Toronto-based “Beast Games” 10-episode series, which is four episodes in as of Jan. 2.
The show, hosted by MrBeast, who is known for his lucrative giveaways and popular YouTube challenges, follows 1,000 contestants as they compete through a series of challenges for a $5 million grand prize.
In the first round, Weaver and England survived challenges such as pulling a 10,000-pound ball, capturing flags and briefcases and withstanding bribes of large amounts of money. But in the first episode, England was one of 52 people to share a $1 million bribe. That’s when he proposed to Weaver, who could not spend the remainder of the trip with her fiancé as he spent the rest of his time off in Hawaii.
Weaver was eliminated in the third episode along with a married couple. She was one of the final 148 contestants to compete for the $5 million prize. While their time together was shorter than they hoped, the couple learned a lot about each other on their first big trip together.
“I learned that we’re the same kind of personality as far as how we roll with what’s happening and the way that we make the best out of the situation or the positivity we keep,” England said. “We have a very similar sense of humor, and we’re competitive. Our demeanor is a lot alike. It made it very easy to be together. She’s my best friend.”
Weaver concurred, adding that their bond strengthened because of the extraordinary circumstances.
“I surprisingly didn’t get tired of him. I’ve always heard that if you want to know if a relationship is going to work, you need to go somewhere that’s out of both of your comfort zones and be uncomfortable,” she said. “That’s exactly what we did, and it was super easy and fun.”
Weaver and England didn’t tell their families about their engagement until last week because they didn’t know if the footage of their big moment would air or not. To their disappointment, it didn’t make the cut, but they did get a nice surprise after their episodes aired.
The jewelry company Shane Co. heard about their story and helped them create their perfect wedding ring, a two-carat solitaire ring. The couple haven’t chosen their wedding day just yet, but they plan to ask MrBeast to officiate the wedding. They hope there will be a second season so they can apply again and maybe compete as husband and wife.
“We do think that they might be casting. I would love to do that. We would love to go back,” Weaver said. “I don’t think I would play it any differently.”
A new episode of “Beast Games” releases on Amazon Prime every Thursday, with the season finale premiering on Feb. 13.
