Budding YouTube star Kalen Allen appeared on Ellen on Tuesday, where host Ellen DeGeneres offered the Temple University senior a deal for a new “platform” for his beloved recipe reaction video series, “Kalen Reacts.”
Last month, DeGeneres praised Allen’s YouTube series and invited him on the show. In a tweet promoting Allen’s appearance this week, DeGeneres wrote that the Temple student “may just be the best thing on the internet right now.”
.@TheKalenAllen may just be the best thing on the internet right now. I love him. https://t.co/tUsI7bcB9P pic.twitter.com/6KmxaIHJhB
— Ellen DeGeneres (@TheEllenShow) January 2, 2018
Allen first went viral after the debut of his “Kalen Reacts” videos a little more than a month ago. The videos feature Allen reacting to recipes featured on websites like PopSugar and Buzzfeed’s Tasty. Think potato salad cake with hot dogs to line it, or mac and cheese with added Brussels sprouts. To date, his YouTube channel has racked up more than 4.1 million views.
During his appearance on Ellen, Allen discussed everything from his days starting his “Kalen Reacts” series to his work outside of the videos, which he says includes five part-time jobs (so many, in fact, that he forgot one in the moment). Allen also plugs his own peach cobbler, a dish he has featured on his channel, saying that he is such a good cook that “people actually pay me to make” the cobblers during the holidays.
DeGeneres, however, apparently didn’t think one appearance from Allen was enough. Toward the end of her interview with Allen, she makes him a one-in-a-lifetime offer.
“We want to make a deal with you so you actually have a platform, and help you make these videos,” DeGeneres said. Allen, surprised, accepted the offer, but only after telling Ellen to “stop playing” with him.
The terms of whatever the deal is are currently unclear. However, if it means showcasing Allen’s videos on the Ellen Show’s YouTube channel, it could mean a lot more exposure. Currently, the channel has more than 22 million subscribers, compared to Allen’s 112,000.
A Kansas City, Kansas native, Allen is a film and theater double major at Temple with a concentration in acting. He is set to graduate from the school this spring, but as he told the Inquirer last month, he hasn’t yet decided what he’ll be doing after college. Initially, he planned to pursue graduate school, but his viral fame may have changed plans.
“Now that I have some kind of fame under my belt,” he said at the time, “maybe I can ride the tide and make these dreams come true.”
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