What would you do for $10 million? On Beast Games, the quest for the money requires sacrificing your friends, pulling the weight of a monster truck, and trying not to get caught by Navy SEALs.
It’s a game of strength, smarts, and above all, luck. The fate of several challenges falls in the universe’s hands. Case in point: the final battle between players 830 and 831, where they have to guess which briefcase has the $10 million check inside. Player 831, also known as Jeff Allen, accomplishes the seemingly impossible and selects the correct briefcase on the first try.
“When you think back to the million-dollar money grab when we were handed the keys, I got key number six,” Allen explained to DECIDER. “I was in bunk number six. I was saying a prayer that had six words in it. I got into the top six. The number six kept popping up…I knew it was going to be six. It was just a feeling of certainty. I was calm.”
Strategy aside, Allen won viewers’ hearts with his story. Throughout the competition, he was open about his son’s struggles with Creatine Transporter Deficiency, a rare disease that currently has no cure. His plan from day one was to use the prize money to fund research—now, he’s one step closer towards creating a better life for his child.
Allen gave DECIDER the behind-the-scenes scoop on the competition, including his thoughts on some of the most controversial players, what he did during downtime, and spontaneous all-nighters they pulled filming challenges.
DECIDER: What was the audition process like for Beast Games?
JEFF ALLEN: I saw an application to apply online. My nine-year-old is a huge fan of MrBeast, and my seven-year-old has a rare disease. I’m like, “Okay, I can be the cool dad for a nine-year-old, and I can get a platform to talk about my son’s rare disease.” I set a reminder on my phone for the last day I had to submit the application, and I did it. It was the most vanilla application you’ve ever seen. When you think of MrBeast, you think of quick edits, a lot of special effects, and there’s so many talented people. Mine was one take in my office, horrible background, clothes all over the place. My son’s in it. In retrospect, it was perfect. It truly was the encapsulation of me and my son Lucas.
When you got on the show, what surprised you the most about the competition?
I was surprised by how good the people were there. I quickly realized the game was very social. You have to get to know people. You have to build trust. You have to earn trust. I don’t know if it was a bit of luck, but I was surrounded by amazing people.
You and Twana started talking on day one because your numbers were in sequence, and you turned out to be the final two.
I know. It’s wild. When I met her, I messed up her name, but I realized she’s amazing. She’s a fierce competitor. She just has this presence about her that exudes aura and leadership. She’s an awesome person. Part of me was like, “Man, if I can go up against her in the end, that would be a dream come true.” As we got closer, kind of in the top 50, I realized she was an ally. She was part of my alliance, but I wanted to go up against her. She is the fiercest of the fierce. So it was a storybook ending for sure.
Do you still keep in touch?
Yeah, I got to connect with her a couple days ago and just thank her and wish her well. She’s got such a bright future. She’s already accomplished so much, and I’m excited to support her and the great stuff she has going on in the future.
When you all first got there, did they take away your phones? Did you have any sort of connection to the outside world?
Zero connection to the outside world. They take away phones, laptops, and there’s really no clocks anywhere. You don’t even know what day it is. Most of our filming was done at night, especially for lighting purposes. So your whole world is turned upside down. And I think that’s one of the reasons why as an audience member, you kind of go, “Gosh, why are they so close? Why are they always hugging and crying?” You get really close when you remove the distractions of everyday life. And then you factor in really good people. You forge relationships in weeks that usually take years to build.
What did you guys do during downtime if you didn’t have phones?
We actually talked to each other! We asked each other questions. Instead of documenting memories and taking pictures, we were just talking and listening. But there was so much to do in the city. There was a basketball court, a little soccer field where you could work out. There were amazing yoga instructors teaching yoga. I’m a child of the eighties and nineties, so it felt like I was in a summer camp back in the nineties again.
Let’s get into the challenges. Looking back now, what would you say was the most difficult challenge?
Unquestionably, it was episode six, the monster truck pull. Eight people pulling a 12,000 pound monster truck in the freezing cold was wild. I’m in my forties. I shouldn’t be pulling a monster truck ever. And I was kind of the biggest on my team. I had to be the lead ox. It was like David versus Goliath. We should not have won that challenge. Miraculously, we did.
Any regrets choosing the physical challenge over the mental one?
Zero. As a 44-year-old guy, I exercise. I have a trainer. This is my time to prove I still got it. I’m not sure if I did that, but I certainly had fun doing it.
You were also presented with a lot of bribes throughout the competition. Was there ever a point when you considered taking a bribe, or maybe even self-sacrificing for another player?
No. Self-sacrificing the opportunities I had didn’t make sense for me. And from a bribe perspective, my ultimate aim was to get far enough to where Lucas’ story could be told and the world could hear about Creatine Transporter Deficiency. I know it’s a show, and if I don’t get far, my edit won’t show me. So I’m like, “I just need to get further and further.” With each passing challenge, I go, “Okay, I’m one step closer to being able to talk to the camera about Lucas.” That was what drove me.
There was a crazy challenge where four team captains were chosen and each got offered one million dollars. If you were chosen as captain, what would you have done?
If I was elected, I would’ve gone up there. It’s easy for me to say I would’ve done what they would’ve done [and not taken the money]. When 60 people choose you, and you’re literally looking down at them, you get a chance to show the universe who you are. I think all four of those people, that’s exactly what they did: “A million dollars would be great, but you chose me, and I’m not going to let you down.”
I was holding my breath during that challenge. There was a moment when Deano really seemed like he was going to take the money.
That was a night where it was probably four or five in the morning. We thought we were done, and they brought us back together like, “Oh my gosh, what is this?” It was just wild to see. I knew a hundred percent that Jeremy wouldn’t [take the money]. I knew him well. I knew Harrison and Twana. I didn’t know Deano well, and I was kind of like, “Is he going to do it?” I felt the same way you did.
It’s funny because when Deano went home later on during the Trolley Problem, people actually started to question him a bit.
I love Deano, and Deano loves Deano. That’s a joke I always play on him. But I think one thing, and I talked to him about it, was his social game. He started getting dark in Panama. He got the game face and didn’t socialize as much. I think that just came back to bite him. I don’t think he understood who was close to who. That’s where he got in hot water.
As much as it’s a physical and mental game, it really is a social game as well.
A hundred percent. So many of the challenges take place between the competitions—during the day when you’re eating, when you’re socializing. It’s all about building relationships and earning trust. You have to rely on those at the end to get through. When I look around at the top six, those are the folks who played the game hard, played the game well, but are pretty good people.
Now that the show is over, can you reveal any alliances you had?
We had an alliance called the Avengers. Patrick was kind of the pseudo leader. I met him on day one. I knew him before our first challenge, and he and I became fast friends. He was the strategic kind of sleuth, and I was the diplomat. We were a great team. We had awesome people. We were fortunate to have three or four of us go into the top ten.
Justice for Patrick.
I know. He truly is a friend for life. I wanted him in the top six.
Let’s talk about the finale. What was your strategy going into it?
Throughout the games, I played fair. My strategy was to always help people. I knew that if I was going to win, I’d have to go against Twana. Twana is so tough, and she’s intimidating, and I’m like, “Okay, she needs to see a side of Jeff that she’s never seen.” I tried to get into her head a little bit…I wanted her to see that I was playing differently.
The banter between you two in the final challenge was so intense.
I respect her, and she respects me. Some people on the show would call us the mom and dad, since we’re both kind of older for the show. I wanted to go against her at the end. I was never going to go after her until then. And then when we got to the end, I was in kind of a different world. She’s so tough to read, and I was trying to read her. But at the same time, I already had a vision of what it was going to be, and it was a really interesting way to play out.
So, how did you manage to find the $10 million check on the first try?
Honestly, I think it started a couple days before. When you think back to the million-dollar money grab when we were handed the keys, I got key number six. I was in bunk number six. I was saying a prayer that had six words in it. I got into the top six. The number six kept popping up. So when I walked out on stage and saw the briefcases and saw numbers, I knew it was going to be six. It was just a feeling of certainty. I was calm.
You’ve been very open about your son’s CTD and how you’re going to use the money to find a cure. What are some of the first steps that you’re going to take?
We’ve been blessed. I’ve been a volunteer board member for the Association for Creatine Deficiencies for four years now. We’ve been the primary funder of research, but we fund six figures max a year. So there’s projects at Stanford, there’s projects in Ontario, Canada, some in Italy. We’re trying to find the next project we can fund that can help try to get a treatment for our boys sooner than later. So the next step for me is we have some proposals that we’re going to fund from a research perspective. And the timing couldn’t have been better. Considering the technology and where the researchers are, I truly believe we can find a treatment in the coming years.
It’s so special that you already have a plan in place.
The researchers have all met our families. We do a symposium where it’s the scientists and families. So it’s not just them working on computer screens or under a microscope. They’ve actually seen the kids that their work will impact. It makes it so fulfilling. I am extraordinarily blessed to have won and earned $10 million. It’s my duty to put it to good use to obviously help Lucas and our family, but also help kids I’ve never even met before and kids who haven’t even been born.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Carrie Berk is a 22-year-old bestselling author of My Real-Life Rom-Com. Her upcoming title, Mindfire, is available for pre-order on Amazon now. She is also a social media influencer with nearly 4 million followers on TikTok and 1 million on Instagram.
