MrBeast gets engaged to girlfriend Thea Booysen, Shilpa Shetty congratulates couple

Los Angeles [US], January 2 (ANI): New Year marked new beginnings for popular YouTuber MrBeast on the personal front.
On January 1, 2025, Jimmy Donaldson, ak MrBeast, announced his engagement to girlfriend Thea Booysen.
Taking to Instagram, MrBeast shared several adorable moments which captured him popping the question to Thea.
"Ya boy did a thing," he captioned the post.

 

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A post shared by MrBeast (@mrbeast)

The update left his fans extremely happy.
The post also garnered a comment from Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty.
"Wohooo Congratulations (red heart emojis)," Shilpa wrote.
As per People, the couple got engaged on Christmas at their home surrounded by their families, who were in on the surprise.
"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," Booysen told PEOPLE.
"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," added MrBeast.
After Booysen opened her eyes, she "of course said yes" and was "extremely excited."
"Thea is really close to her family, so I wanted to make sure that they were included in this momentous occasion. Christmas worked out great because they were in town from the other side of the world," MrBeast shared.
Even though the social media star is known for his elaborate challenges and large-scale stunts, he wanted his engagement to be small and special.
"My friends thought I would want to propose in a very public way, like some sort of spectacle at the Super Bowl or somewhere else really big like that, but I knew that I wanted it to be the opposite, to be really private and intimate," he said.
MrBeast met Booysen, a fellow gamer and internet personality from South Africa, in 2022 when he was visiting her home country. During the trip, MrBeast went to dinner with a mutual friend who invited Booysen to join them.
"When I met him, I was quite surprised how down-to-earth he was, and also how intelligent he was," Booysen recalled. "I thought YouTubers were just sort of a persona, but when I met him, I was quite surprised to see that he's actually a nice guy. He wasn't sitting there with an ego."
The two quickly bonded over their passion for learning and got into a deep conversation about science, YouTube and beyond.
"When we were first introduced, it came through right away how brilliant Thea is," MrBeast said. "She has such a range of knowledge and can go deep on lots of topics. She told me about her work as an author and how passionate she is about her hobbies -- we vibed instantly. I kept thinking she is really smart and beautiful. I knew within the first few minutes of meeting that I wanted the chance to date her. Thankfully, she also felt a strong connection."
The couple made their first public appearance at the Kids' Choice Awards in April 2022.
Last year, MrBeast also came to India and met a lot of Bollywood celebrities during his India visit. (ANI)