99 TO BEAT: A contestant in the Series Premiere of 99 TO BEAT airing Monday, Sept. 21 (9:01-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. © 2025 Fox Media LLC. CR: Jay Maidment/FOX.

Each night millions of Americans tune their televisions or log onto their device of choice to view their favorite game show; many of them imagining themselves in the exhilaration of the gameplay.

And now one Williamsport native will get the chance to live out that dream as the city’s own Dakota McGee gears up for his appearance on the debut season of Fox’s “99 to Beat,” which premieres at 9 p.m. Sept. 24. The show will also be available on Hulu the day after each episode initially airs.

Appearing on a game show has long been on McGee’s radar, having previously made it to the final round of auditions for MTV’s “The Real World.”

“Sadly, I didn’t make it, and I kind of put that kind of stuff on the back burner,” the Tony Salon cosmetologist said.

Then one day, McGee would get an invitation in his inbox to audition for a new competition show.

“They didn’t even have a title for it yet, and I had no idea what it was. I just knew it was for $100,000 and that I love adventure, so why not put my all into this and see how far I can get,” he said.

“And they liked what they saw. They liked my enthusiasm about doing things like that, and my Instagram is full of different adventures. I’ve hiked a volcano, and done a lot of different cool things,” McGee said.

“I think they saw something that resonated and that they thought would be a good fit for the show,” he explained.

McGee describes the gameplay of the show as “bonkers” adding that it consists of challenges he would’ve never envisioned.

“These challenges are just flat out funny, hysterical, and some challenging for sure, came down to luck, but all of it just came down to who can handle the pressure,” he said.

One of the challenges saw the 100 contestants hunting the game zone for a balloon to pop containing a hula lei, to secure a spot in the next round.

“There were so many balloons in that net, it was intense, and all 100 of us were just running full speed to try to get a hula lei out of a balloon. It’s crazy,” McGee said.

Another challenge required contestants to defrost a large block of ice by any means necessary in order to retrieve a whistle frozen with and blow it.

“It definitely put me in a lot of compromising positions,” McGee laughed.

“There’s another one called ‘pretty penne,’ where we’re standing at individual tables and we have to hold a strand of dried spaghetti in our mouths, and without using our hands, we must thread together seven pieces of dried penne pasta onto the spaghetti, but we were only given 10 strands to try with,” he said.

McGee calls his experience on the show one of the highlights of his life.

“I’m just 31, and this was a pretty big thing in my life, and it was an experience that only 100 other people on this earth have,” he said.

“It’s definitely a humbling thing too, to recognize that I was fighting for a million dollars on a huge stage, and I did the best I could do, and I had so much fun doing it,” McGee said.

“At the end of the day, these are challenges we’re doing with a whole bunch of different personalities and people from all walks of life, so it did get wild and fun. There was drama, there was excitement, there was tears, there was just so much good stuff that you just got to watch,” he said.

“And the hosts Ken Jung and Erin Andrews were hysterical, very kind and very down to earth,” McGee continued.

“They saw us at our worst, and definitely gave us the motivation to keep on pushing for that million dollars they get,” he said.

Perhaps more difficult than any of the show’s challenges has been McGee’s sworn secrecy about what happened during his time on the show.

“It’s really hard to keep keeping such big secrets from my family,” he said.

“I think what makes it easy is the fact that I know my friends and family are going to be so excited to see how things play out, see how far I got, see if I won a million dollars,” McGee said.

“There’s so much up in the air that people don’t know, and to be able to be with my friends and family and get to see them watch and figure out what’s going on in this show as it progresses, it’s super exciting,” he added.

“And I know my friends and family are going to be so excited to see how things play out, see how far I got and see if I won a million dollars,” McGee said.

“My nieces and nephews didn’t know I was going to film a show. and they still have no idea, even with the promos going out right now, I’ve kept it a huge secret from them, because I want them to be shocked when we throw on the first episode until they finally see my face on the screen,” McGee noted.

McGee encourages anyone with even the slightest interest of their own to pursue that.

“The only thing holding you back is yourself, and at the end of the day, that’s not a good enough reason,” he said.

“Just go out there and pursue your dreams, and nine out of 10 times it’s going to happen simply because that’s the person that you are. If you’re dreaming big, you’ll do big,” urged.

McGee also stressed that the show has a universality about it.

“It’s definitely a good show to watch while you’re at the bar or hanging with your friends. You can try these challenges at home, and see if you can do them,” he said.

“Who knows? If you think you’re good enough to beat the 99 you might end up on the next season,” he said.

McGee invites those tuning into the show to follow along with his journey via his Instagram page at @dakotamichaelmcgee.