Central Texas man wins $15,000 on YouTube game show
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Waco — A China Spring man and his wife won $15,000 on a YouTube game show.
William Harris and his wife Maria competed on The Atlas Games, a show that pits teams against each other in a variety of challenges, with the winning team taking home a grand prize. The show is four episodes in and corresponds with an app called Atlas Earth.
Harris started as a fan of the show and the app. When he saw he could apply to compete through the app, he decided to try.
“I was like why not? I was like, worst case scenario, they don’t contact me back,” Harris said.
After getting invited on the show, Harris found out he needed a partner to compete. He asked his wife Maria, though it took some convincing to get her on board.
“I just told her, I was like, ‘I just wanna do it with you.’ I told her, ‘I love you, and I just wanna do something fun with you.’ I was like, ‘you gotta join me,’” Harris said.
The Harris’ went into a hole early, finishing in last place in the first round. Then the comeback started.
Harris credits their win to Maria, who used her skills to rebuild a snowman from memory.
“My wife is the one who kind of memorized it, so I’m glad she was on the team with me, because I never would have remembered it,” Harris said.
After being vaulted into first place, the Harris team faced a decision: take $10,000 in cash or open a mystery box.
“My wife told me: ‘You’re the one who joined this game, you’re the one that applied.’ She told me, ‘It’s your decision.’ I was like, ‘I’m all about the risk,’” Harris said.
The risk paid off, winning the couple $15,000.
Sami Khan, founder of The Atlas Games, said Maria’s reaction was memorable.
“I remember seeing William’s wife. And I think she said at the end of the episode, we didn’t catch it on camera, she said, ‘Is this real?’ They just couldn’t believe it, it’s just like, ‘Why are we giving away 15 grand?’” Khan said.
The Harris family split the $15,000 in half, putting one half into a savings account to be used toward a new house for them and their two kids, and the other for a down payment on new car for William.
Harris said entering the show was never about the money.
“I didn’t come in to really win the money. The money was the cherry on top. But coming in, I was just coming in for the fun,” Harris said.
Khan said the show gives away cash to expand upon the brand built with the Atlas Earth app.
“We live in this era where everybody could just use some extra cash. We built this amazing app that gives away cash-back called Atlas: Earth, and we decided, ‘what better way to expand upon that brand we built on the app, than launch a game show or a YouTube channel that gives away money to people?’” Khan said.
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