Bonnie Blue says an online betting company paid £1.2 million to name her newborn baby. It is an extraordinary claim, but so far the proposed name has been announced more firmly than the deal behind it.
In a video shared on social media, Blue said several companies had bid for the naming rights before the birth. She claimed BetBolt won the auction and that the baby would be called BetBolt.
What Bonnie Blue said about the auction
“My auction’s finished, and for £1.2million my baby is called BetBolt,” Blue said. “I’m going to be shouting BetBolt across the playground.”
Blue also said she did not yet know much about the company and planned to research it before registering the name. That leaves a practical gap between the announcement and the name appearing on official paperwork.
The £1.2 million claim remains unverified
The video does not, on its own, establish that an auction took place, that BetBolt paid £1.2 million or that the child has been registered under the company’s name. Blue’s account is the basis for those claims.
Her history of provocative publicity stunts has added to the scepticism surrounding the announcement. That history does not prove this claim is false, but it makes independent confirmation particularly important.
In my view, the most revealing detail is Blue’s admission that she still intends to research the company. If the arrangement is genuine, that is a striking order in which to make a decision about a child’s name. It is also possible the video is designed to provoke a reaction; the information available does not settle which interpretation is right.
What would establish whether the name is real
Confirmation of the payment and the eventual registered name would answer the two questions the video leaves open. Until then, BetBolt is the name Blue says she has chosen, and £1.2 million is the price she says a company paid.
