Being the winner of a game show is exciting, but being the first winner of a game show is even more special. Reverend Peter Nevins took home the $1 million prize on the first season of 99 to Beat in the December 10 finale after defeating 99 other contestants by competing in various games.
Hosted by Ken Jeong and Erin Andrews, 99 to Beat is a new game show that originated in the U.K., where 100 contestants compete against each other in random games. Someone is eliminated after each game, whether it is by themselves or in a group. As each person is eliminated, $10,000 is added to the prize pot until there are only two contestants left. Whoever wins the final game takes home the massive jackpot.
Nevins went up against five other people in the finale and competed in five games — “Confetti Sweep,” “3D Puzzle,” “Alphabetti Golf,” “Pendulum,” and “Grand Finale” — before taking home $1 million. He went head-to-head against Leandra in the final game, where the win came down to mere seconds.
Although he walked away with the grand prize, Nevins’ biggest hope is that he represented himself and the priesthood well enough. “It’s been a real privilege. Having the priest collar on can mean a lot of different things to a lot of different people, and it can mean something good. Often it doesn’t, and for understandable reasons. I think one of the things for me that’s been cool is just hopefully I’ve been able to represent the Christian priesthood, in a way in which it should be able to be experienced, rather than some of the ways that, sadly, have been experienced over the centuries. And so that’s been really cool,” he said.
“It was really cool, not only to have the opportunity, but I think even on the game show, a lot of people could have been really distant from me if they wanted to, or they could have judged me as much as they might have thought I maybe would have been judging them, but they didn’t. And I think whether it was contestants or production staff, the generosity and kindness of spirit were really cool. It was a privilege to be a part of it. My big hope, personally, is that the priest came across in the way that it should be expected,” Nevins ended.
The priest, who lives in England, talked to TV Insider about winning the game show, how hard it was to see people be eliminated, and how he kept his win a secret, even from the people closest to him, including his wife and six children. Check out the moment he won against Leandra below and read on to see what else he had to say.
Congrats on your win. How are you feeling?
Peter Nevins: It’s a bit surreal because I’ve known the result for six months now, and I had to sign an NDA, so I’ve been holding that nice and tight. So, I’m not really sure how to process it, if I’m honest, because it’s not news to me, but it’s going to be news to everyone else. It’s crazy.
With 99 to Beat being a new show, what made you want to audition for it? What drew you to it?
Honestly what happened was I live here in England, and it is filmed here in England, in London. I live in Surrey, just south of London. Long story short, I’m a vicar and I live in a vicarage, which means that I live in this house because I’m the vicar of my parish. And then once I’m not a vicar here, I don’t have a house. So, my wife and I have been trying to get a mortgage, to buy a house, buy property of some sort, so we have some place to live when I’m done.
She happened to come across this ad. It’s looking for American expats in the UK to be on this game show. She’s like, “Peter, you should apply for this game show.” I’m like, “What’s the game show?” She’s like, “I don’t know, but you should apply for it.” I was like, “I really don’t have time for this, it’d be fun, but I’m probably not gonna be cast.” She’s like, “Come on, we’re trying to get a mortgage. Just do the application.” I think she assumed it was some kind of quiz show. Maybe I’d be gone for a day, or a couple days, do a trivia or something like that, and then it’s done.
I actually forgot all about it until three months later. I got a call from this number that came up as spam, so I didn’t pick it up at first. It was the casting agency that left a message and told me they wanted to do an audition for the show. So, I looked it up a little bit because there’s a British version of it on ITV here in Britain. I was like, “Let’s go! These are crazy games. I’ve been in youth ministry since 1999 and then I was in youth ministry as a kid. I’ve been training my whole life for this.”
Are you able to talk a little bit about the audition process?
Basically it was a solid, weird phone call from America. I ignored it, and then I got this text on WhatsApp from the casting agency, “We’d like to talk to you about this.” I thought it was a phishing scam or something. But then I remembered that I auditioned, so I texted back, “Just give me a bit more detail about what you’re talking about.” They gave me the details. Then I had a phone call with someone from the casting, and they’re like, “Let’s just do a Zoom interview.” An hour later, I’m in a Zoom interview with another casting agent, and he says, “Hey, you’re quite interesting. I’ll push it forward. But I’m not the only guy doing this, and I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll put you forward.”
It is quite ambiguous. I remember thinking, “Am I being cast? Can I get a bit more information?” Then it was almost two weeks, two and a half weeks later, I’m up in North London on Sunday filming the show. It was crazy.
How did you prepare? Did you play certain games?
I watched the British version, and there are a few other competitors who did, too. That was useful because there were some games that were the same, there are a lot of games that weren’t, but it gave me a sense of what the competition was going to be like.
Kevin McAllister, after he got eliminated, gave me his ping pong ball that he brought with him so he could practice with the hair dryer in his hotel room, so I did practice that a little bit, not much, not that it helped, because I was pretty abysmal at that one.
Going in, you were told that the prize was $100,000. What was your reaction when Erin and Ken said that it’s changed to a million dollars?
I was confused. I was like, “Is this just to get a big reaction for the cameras? What is this really going on?” A bit of disbelief and confusion, actually.
Even though you were there to win $1 million, how hard was it to see other people that you had formed bonds with leave and lose their chance of trying to win money?
That’s a good question. For some people, you really feel it because you’re like, “Oh, man, they really have a lot of eggs in this basket.” But by nature, but also by training, and as a result of being a priest, you really just deal with the thing that’s in front of you. And sometimes you’ve got to be really factual about it, and sometimes you get confronted with some pretty wild situations as a priest, and you’ve got to be fairly poker-faced. You’ve got to be like, “Oh, man, that’s really interesting. Well, tell me some more about that.”
So I think the hardest thing was when you’re the one responsible for sending one of your buddies back home. I remember the slinky game with the headband, me and Kevin McAllister became good friends, and it was down to just him and me. And I remember when it was down to me and him, I was thinking, “This is the worst because either I’m going home or my buddy is going home. This is terrible.”
But then the next day, we go in and it’s all OK. We all shook the dice and rolled them under the same table to see who came up, and that’s the game, that’s the show, that’s what makes it interesting. We’re all here to hopefully win $1 million, but really we’re there to make good TV. So, if it makes good TV, that’s fantastic because actually no one wins. It doesn’t air from beginning to end.
What do you think was the hardest game that you played throughout the entire show?
For me personally, it was a blindfold Band game. That was dreadful. That was horrific. I don’t hear too well because I’ve listened to too much rock and roll in my earbuds on loud volume. I was constantly saying, “I can hear your voice, but I’m not discerning your words.” As soon as they handed me that ukulele, I was like, “I’m done. I am done.” There’s one other game that did my head in in the finale, but the blindfold band game was the worst. Everyone’s playing the instrument. It was like a cop car chase and ambulance chasing a fire truck in a concert at a football game. It was absolute madness. I couldn’t hear anything. It was terrible.
The other one was in the finale with the confetti. That was so hard. I was “Oh, you told me that little shiny thing right there is what’s holding me back? I’m gonna need some tweezers. That is, like, in the fibers. I’m not getting that out with a paintbrush.” It was rough.
Jay Maidment/FOX
What was going through your head when second to the last game, you knocked that final can down and you knew that you made it into the final two?
I had my game face on. Past performance doesn’t mean anything. All these games are different. However I did in the last game is irrelevant to the next game. That’s all that matters. Stay locked in. Don’t get caught up in the hype at the moment; there’s one more game to play. You don’t know what it is. That game’s done. I made it through. Flush it. Stay locked in for the next one.
In the final game, you went against Leandra, who was a very strong and tough competitor. Were you nervous to go against her?
No, that’s not in reference to her. All these games anyone can win, and anyone can lose. Mistakes get made, luck happens. All these games are a total coin toss. They’re equal parts skill and luck, and anything just might happen. So I wasn’t going into it like, “I got this over Leandra.” I was saying it in the interview, she’s a peer, she deserved to be there, and she’s gonna compete fiercely. So there’s nothing to be taken for granted. But at the same time I’m there, too. I’m just a very smart competitor, so I thought, “Whatever it is, this is going to be a good game because the opponents are going head-to-head.”
In the last game, in the first part, when you had to stack the nuts up, Leandra finished before you. In that moment, were you, like, “That’s it, I’m done”?
Actually, yeah. When she got through the ice melting thing before me, I thought, “OK, I gotta make up some time.” But I did pretty well with the nut stacking earlier in the game show, so I felt pretty good going in the nut stacking, but you’re so hyped up with adrenaline, and then the cold from the ice, and I’m wet, and I’m like 15 to 20 years older than her. Also, I’m shaking, I’m all geriatric on this thing. I’m like, “What in the world is going on?” I just couldn’t stack, and then they all fell. Then she made her way through it. And I remember thinking, “I think she’s got it like this.” All the analytics would say I’m done. I remember thinking, “But mistakes happen, give yourself a chance to be lucky. It’s not over. The horn hasn’t sounded. So keep playing and just let’s see what happens.”
The final moments, knocking down the bricks, it was literally seconds apart. What was it like when you found out that you won?
It was just surreal. I spent so much time checking my emotions throughout the whole competition. It doesn’t matter how good I did in the last game. Flush it. It’s a new game. Kevin had to go home, David, all these friends are being eliminated, but that’s irrelevant. You’re here for one thing: Stay focused. All of that kind of containing of emotion doesn’t all of a sudden just go away. You’re like, “Ah, OK. Oh my gosh. This is just happening.” But then a sort of priestly self kicks in. And I’m like “She’s devastated. I don’t want to rub it in. I want to be sensitive to this other human person who should have won.”
There’s a scripture. It says, “Weep with those who weep, and rejoice with those who rejoice.” It’s really funny because when you find yourself in a situation where we’re experiencing the same thing at the same time because of the same occasion, it’s a really complex kind of sign. This isn’t really super concise and tidy. But it was surreal. I was like, “I’m elated. I don’t even have a place in my brain for this to sit on.” But then there’s this other person whom I’ve grown to care about, another human being who’s grieving.
Are you able to share your plans for what you want to do with your winnings?
I don’t have solid plans. That will take some discussion with my wife. No one in my family knows the result, so they can’t find out.
Not even your wife?
No, there’s a really good reason for that. It’s not a horrible thing. I know what it’s been like for me to carry this for six months. Because I’m a public figure in the community, there’s a lot of people who want to know. It’s almost not fair for her to carry that as well. So it’s been a way of giving her the ability to honestly say, “Actually, I have no idea. I’ve got no clue.”
First, I’ll worship with my winnings. There are all kinds of reasons I could have been eliminated. I’m not saying God was on my side because it doesn’t work like that. But in God’s providence, this is what’s happened and so on. Honor that, and honor God in that I’ll have to settle accounts with Uncle Sam, since I’ve got my deal with nationality, and so I have to handle that. Those US dollars are going to get exchanged to Great British pounds. There is a little bit of a loss of value in that.
I’ve got a little bit of residual student debt that I need to settle up. Being an adult sucks, but we’ll be responsible, and we’ll do something fun as well, and then really, we’ll say, “How do we make sure that this isn’t a blessing that’s just happened once, and this is a blessing that continues to bless us and others for time to come?”
The show hasn’t been renewed yet, but do you have any advice for next season’s contestants?
I’ve got a lot of advice. Probably one is, don’t ride the highs too high. Don’t ride the lows too low. Once you finish a game, if you were terrible at it, flush it. New game is a new game, and it’s entirely different. If you did awesome, who cares? Flush it. It’s a totally new game. So I think that’s thing number one is be very present.
The other thing I’d say is, check your emotions. Put your emotions in the box and put it on the shelf, but label it really well. I think one of the things I found is I don’t label my book like, this is how I am as a person, just in general. I know where everything is, but I don’t label things particularly well, and so I can have this big emotion that’s gonna go on the shelf, and then after I was done, I’m like, “OK, I need to get this emotion. Why did I have that? Why do I have that anger, all that joy?” So check your emotions, box them up, but label it really well, so that you can process it later.
And thirdly, just have fun. These are games. Games are supposed to be fun. If you’re not having fun, you’re not doing it right. If you come away with nothing, then you haven’t lost anything. You’ve lost nothing. And if you don’t let yourself have a good time, then you’ve deprived yourself of the one thing you could have come home with. Meet people. Have fun. Enjoy yourself. Only one person gets $1 million, but everyone can have a blast.
Are there any other shows or game shows that you would want to be on?
Oh, I’d love to. I don’t have any particularly in mind, but I’d love to do this again. That’d be so much fun. I’ve got to pace it out because I have quite a bit of responsibility in life that I need to take seriously. And I can’t always be gone for three weeks because I’m on a game show. I hope this isn’t the only one I’m ever on. I’d love to do something like this again, whether it’s a similar kind of game or something totally different. And hey, if you can make some money doing it, that’s all right.
99 t0 Beat, Season 1, Streaming Now, Hulu