Six Dates from $1 to $500,000: MrBeast's Escalating Date Video with His Fiancée

Open on YouTube ↗
Overview

The video is built around one escalating question. If each date costs far more than the last, how far can the experience go? The host, Jimmy (MrBeast), starts with a $1 Ferris wheel ride and ends with what is presented as a $500,000 night with all of Disneyland reserved. Most of the dates are with his fiancée, Thea. Friends join some of them, and one segment hands the spotlight to his friend Nolan, who goes on a date with singer Madison Beer. The host also gives a personal reason for the premise. The video was a way to spend time with Thea despite a heavy filming schedule.

12 min read

The $1 Date: A Creaky Ferris Wheel

The video opens with a $1 Ferris wheel ride, and the low price shows right away. Thea asks whether it's safe. The ride makes enough noise that the host jokes, "I see why it's only a dollar," and they both wonder whether the sound is "just the wind."

During the ride, the host explains why he chose this concept. He says he usually films 20 to 25 days a month and rarely gets much time with his fiancée, so he "literally picked this video" so the two of them could spend more time together. Thea says she loves him "even if you didn't take me to Disneyland." He replies "not yet" and previews the finale. He claims that "for the first time in history," Disney reserved the entire park just for them.

The $10,000 Date: Gordon Ramsay, Sushi, and an Interruption

The second date recreates the couple's first-ever date, which involved sushi. It takes place at Lucky Cat Miami, and Thea doesn't know beforehand that Gordon Ramsay will be cooking for them. When the host tells her, she reacts with "THE Gordon Ramsay?!"

Ramsay serves several dishes: a pea guacamole, sushi, gourmet fried chicken, fried rice, and duck bao buns. Much of the humor comes from the host mangling the names. He hears "pea guac" as "peacock" and keeps calling the bao buns "duck tacos," which leads Ramsay to say he's being pushed to his limits.

The host then says nothing could ruin the moment, and Nolan and others promptly show up in the kitchen. A chaotic scene follows: Ramsay warns someone not to rip something, food starts burning, and Ramsay ends with his "idiot sandwich" bit. The host calls that moment "worth $10K alone." Ramsay complains that they've "turned it to a nightmare." Even so, the date ends on a romantic note. Ramsay prepares a romantic surprise for the final course, and Thea calls it "actually very romantic." Afterward the host says he can't imagine how the dates will get any better.

The $50,000 Date: A Private Island and a Quadruple Date

The $50,000 date covers an entire private island and everything on it. The host turns it into a quadruple date by bringing friends from earlier videos. He identifies Grizz and Hase as the pair who spent 74 days in the wilderness together, and Josh as the one who spent 22 days in solitary confinement. These three spent weeks away from their wives, so the host wanted to give the couples some quality time. He says this is "how I make good with all the people I put in prolonged places." Josh's wife later tells him, "I forgive you for taking him away from me for so long."

The island has a running joke: a turkey named Tom. The guests first ask whether they'll be eating him and are told they won't. Nolan comes without a partner. The host notes that Nolan will go on a date with Madison Beer later in the video. On the island, Tom keeps getting offered as Nolan's "date," and Nolan politely declines.

The day includes jet skiing and hitting golf balls that double as fish food into the ocean. Thea admits she doesn't actually know how to do it. The couples get massages on the beach, Grizz and Hase play beach volleyball against their wives, and Josh and his wife have a beach picnic. Each couple gets a luxury bungalow. In the host's bungalow, rose petals lead to the master suite, where they form a heart. He jokingly claims he arranged them himself. The evening includes a sunset dinner, couples dancing, and a beach campfire with a fireworks show. Lightning flashed during the show, and everyone reacted to the fireworks and lightning happening together.

The $100,000 Date: An Indoor Metropolis and a Failed Ski Lesson

The next date costs double the previous one and takes place in a huge indoor complex, which the host calls a shopping metropolis, with the whole place to themselves. He describes a giant theme park, what he calls the largest indoor water park in America, and a weather control system that supports what he calls the largest indoor ski slope in America.

The skiing segment centers on a confession. Thea loves skiing, but the host hasn't told her he has no idea how to ski. He insists he isn't scared, then admits he's "freakin' terrified." When she asks what he said, he changes it to "I'm excited." On the slope he keeps falling and asks how to stop and how to stand up. Thea shouts instructions like "Legs together!" and eventually says she's starting to think he doesn't know how to ski. He still claims he does.

With so much to do, the host says it "felt like doing ten dates in one." They win prizes in an arcade, Thea gets a hole-in-one at mini golf, and they build each other custom teddy bears. The host also reflects on the format. He normally makes this kind of video alone or with friends, but doing it with "the person I love most" was "kind of magical." He compares having access to almost any date activity to being a kid in a candy store, and they then visit an actual candy store. The segment ends with a swim in the empty water park. They remark that it's crazy to be in the middle of a mall, and one of them says it's "as big as the ocean."

The $250,000 Date: Nolan and Madison Beer

The host introduces the $250,000 date by listing Madison Beer's credentials: two-time Grammy nominee, platinum-selling artist, more than 3.5 billion streams worldwide. Her date is "my awkward friend Nolan." Before it starts, Thea is asked whether Nolan has a chance and only answers "Um..."

The host and Tareq hide in a bathroom with a walkie connected to an earpiece in Nolan's ear, so they can coach him in real time. The host says he has known Nolan for seven years and has never seen him this nervous. To help, he says he spent a quarter of a million dollars on Madison Beer's dream date: driving her favorite car, VIP treatment at an MLB game, and an over-the-top sushi dinner. All of it was meant to give Nolan the best chance at a second date.

The first stop is a restaurant called Bar Siesta, where the waiter has been asked to act as Nolan's wingman. Early on, the conversation stalls. Madison is from Long Island and Nolan is from Nebraska, which he describes as having "not much out there besides corn." The listeners in the bathroom panic, the host notes that "it wasn't working," and Nolan falls back on asking about the weather. Things improve when Madison says she watches all their videos. She names the one where people spent 100 days underground as her favorite, which surprises the host. She also explains that she's pescatarian and loves sushi.

Nolan then tries a bolder line: "Sorry, I just got lost in your eyes." Madison says it's sweet, and the coaches cheer that "he took the shot." Nolan then undercuts it by saying he was "staring into the abyss" and that it wasn't her eyes. Near the end of the meal, the host has Nolan tip the waiter $10,000 using the host's card, which Nolan frames as their joint gift. The waiter is clearly surprised.

The Gentle Barn, an Angels Game, and Sushi on Ice

Madison loves animals, so the next stop is The Gentle Barn, which the video describes as a sanctuary that rescues abused animals. It's an hour's drive away, which the host calls "Nolan's only problem." During the drive Nolan asks what it's like to perform in front of thousands of people. Madison says she loves her fans and credits them for letting her live her dreams. The coaches note that Nolan is "warming up" and getting better with time. At the sanctuary, Madison explains that she has a lot of anxiety and finds animals "a calming reminder of peace." Nolan replies that he feels a sense of calm around her, and the coaches say he's "smooth with it." The visit also includes a donation. The sanctuary is told it will receive $25,000, and the host adds a matching $25,000.

The host then asks whether he and Thea can join the next part of the date, an Angels baseball game. Nolan jokes, "Am I allowed to say no?" and the host answers that he paid for it. The group gets a full suite, custom jerseys with their names, and appearances on the jumbotron, and a crowd forms around them afterward.

The last stop of the $250,000 date is a sushi dinner set up on an ice skating rink, with what Nolan, stumbling over the words, calls some of the best sushi chefs on earth. The chefs serve a tasting menu. When asked how much the fish costs, the answer is "a couple thousand," and the host jokes, "How d'you think we got up to the 250K price tag?" Madison says it's the best date ever, and the host calls the sushi some of the best he's had in his life. Nolan then kneels, which makes the group gasp, but he says he was only tying his shoe. He asks Madison to a second date at Disneyland, and she says yes.

The Finale: Disneyland for One Night

The grand finale is the most expensive date in the video. The host says Disney "won't just hand over their keys to anyone," but gave them the entire park for one night. He brings everyone: the friends and wives from the island, plus Madison and Nolan.

The first stop is a Star Wars ride. The host says people normally wait hours for it, but they walk right in. Just before it starts, someone admits they haven't seen the movies. The riders are amazed by the scale, and one of them asks, "How did Disney build all this?" Afterward they note that every other cart was empty. Next, the group builds their own lightsabers.

They then ride a giant Ferris wheel, which the host frames as the video coming "full circle" back to the $1 date. He describes it as "like the one-dollar date, but in Disneyland and much bigger." When he asks Thea how it compares, she says it's much better and very romantic. Meanwhile, Nolan and Madison share a fist bump, and the host decides things are "not looking good" for Nolan.

In a game competition, Nolan challenges the host and Chandler. The prize is a stuffed worm, which Thea says she really wants. Nolan wins the first round and gives the grand prize to Madison. The host says he "couldn't lose to Nolan like that," and then wins the next round and the one after it for a three-peat.

The evening winds down with small moments. The host carries Thea over a puddle, and someone tells the others to "take notes." There's also a dinner in front of the Disney castle, where the host thanks Disney and says he doesn't know why they are "going all out." Toasting "the greatest date in history," he asks Thea which date was her favorite. She picks this one "because everybody's here," and adds that they should do this more. He asks, "Rent all of Disneyland?" and she says yes.

The video closes with what the host describes as Disney's first-ever private parade for them. He says the date will be "so hard to top," thanks Disney for "blowing our minds," and calls the experience "truly once in a lifetime." The video leaves Nolan's prospects with Madison unresolved. She accepted the second date, but the host's last read on the Ferris wheel was that things were "not looking good."