Everything We Know About The Montana Boyz
If you have not heard of the Montana Boyz by name, chances are that you have at least come across one of their viral lip-syncing videos on TikTok or Instagram. The social media collective began in 2021 when three friends — Mark Estes, Kaleb Winterburn, and Kade Wilcox — created a video for fun. Though that video went viral, it took another few years for the Montana Boyz to hit their stride. Things exploded in 2024, in no small part due to Estes' much-publicized romance with reality star and podcaster Kristin Cavallari. Within three weeks of being posted, a video featuring Cavallari had garnered 11 million views for the TikTok stars (closer to 12 million now). Many others now have multiple million views, including one where the guys line dance, which has a whopping 17 million.
Though they remain dedicated to their original formula — lip syncing to a country song in a lineup — the Montana Boyz have also branched out to include other things on their channel. From horses to hunting, they represent a cowboy culture not often represented on social media. It also does not hurt that all three of the Boyz are gorgeous, and that they have started to incorporate humor into their content. As of mid-May 2024, the social media stars have 818,000 followers on TikTok and have amassed 15 million likes. They also have more than 350,000 Instagram followers on their main account. Here is everything we know about the creators known as the Montana Boyz.
They all played college football together
All three of the Montana Boyz are in great shape, and fitness is something they clearly enjoy. Both Mark Estes and Kaleb Winterburn have posted gym videos on their solo TikTok accounts, while Kade Wilcox has shown off his lifting skills on Instagram. It makes sense that the creators would be into working out, since they are former collegiate athletes. In fact, it was while playing football at Montana Tech University that they came together to form what would eventually become the Montana Boyz. Wide receiver Estes and Winterburn — who played quarterback in high school but running back in college — were friends before they landed at Montana Tech, both having played at Montana State beforehand. It was after they transferred schools that they met the two-years-younger Wilcox, a defensive back.
Football is not typically featured on their TikTok channel, but the Boyz' athletic past has certainly become a part of their story. "You guys all played football, but it's football nobody's heard of," Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy said in an interview for his "BFFs" podcast. "Could anybody play, or were you guys actually good?" While they may not have played in the Big Eight Conference, the guys affirmed that they took the sport seriously. They have also said that their football experience impacted their ability to approach social media as a group. "It's like we're a team, and we have two teammates, so we get to work with each other day in and day out," Estes told OK! Magazine.
The group was created during a drinking game
Many athletes are known for following a "play hard, party hard" motto, and the Montana Boyz were typically rambunctious during their years at Montana Technological University. But since the school is in Butte, which has a population of only 35,000, hanging out at home was more in vogue than, say, hitting the club in designer duds. It was during a casual drinking game in the yard that the group made their first video, a spontaneous endeavor they never expected to turn into a career. "We were just messing around one day playing beer die and we decided to make a quick TikTok together," Kade Wilcox told E! News in March 2024. "It just blew up from there, so we were like, 'Let's run with it.'" That first video was posted to Kaleb Winterburn's account, but it was mere months before an official Montana Boyz TikTok account was birthed.
Though they got some attention when they posted that first video in 2021 — which Winterburn called "pure bliss" and "addicting" in an interview with Page Six — social media was simply something the guys did for fun as they balanced football and their studies. They decided to commit to producing regular content in early 2023, nine months before the end of their football careers. They now consider themselves full-time creators, even if it all happened by accident. "I definitely don't think we were like 'most likely to be TikTok famous,' by any means," Wilcox said in the Page Six interview.
They no longer live in Montana
They were all born and raised in Montana, but the Montana Boyz are no longer full-time residents of the Treasure State. After leaving college, the creators opted to relocate to somewhere with more people — other creators especially. They chose Nashville, Tennessee, because it felt like less of a lifestyle change than some of their other options. "Nashville was kind of the closest thing to Montana lifestyle-wise, and obviously country music," Mark Estes said to Page Six. "It kind of just fits our whole vibe of what's on our platform and kind of what we're shooting for." In that same interview, Estes' groupmate, Kaleb Winterburn, admitted that they experienced some "culture shock" after making the cross-country move.
Though they gave up their beautiful mountain backdrops, the Montana Boyz gained a community of other influencers when they settled in Nashville. "No one else does it in Montana ... we had no advice, so we kind of just were copying what other people were doing," Estes said on "Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari." "But now it's nice living here because we're kind of in it with, like, other TikTokers that have been doing it for a long time. And it just flows, makes it easier I think." Even though they are now a 26-hour drive from where they went to college in Montana, the social media collective has no plans to rebrand. "We're just going mobile," Kaleb Winterburn said on Cavallari's podcast. They will, however, also be stockpiling Montana content every time they go home.
They all love fishing, hunting, and the great outdoors
One reason the Montana Boyz have no need to rebrand is because the Montana mindset is inside of them, no matter where they are living. The Montana way of life is not just something they play up for clicks, but it is who they are at their core. "We are all Montana born and raised, and then most of my family's in agriculture, so I grew up around that my whole life," Kaleb Winterburn told People. "I know Mark used to ride bulls, so we've been a part of the Montana way of life for quite a while." Winterburn said, he too, used to ride bulls, and all three of the Montana Boyz grew up riding and caring for horses. Those cowboy hats and cowboy boots? They are definitely not just for show. Winterburn has even introduced fans to several of his family's horses, including a russet brown one named Banjo.
Montana is known for its beauty, natural resources, and wildlife, as well as its large open areas and sparse population. One of the most rural states in America, common pastimes tend to focus on the great outdoors. This is often discussed in the Montana Boyz's interviews, where they name "country" activities like hunting and fishing as integral parts of their lives. It is also heavily reflected in their social media content. For instance, a video pinned on their Instagram page shows the guys riding tractors, posing with massive fish, and taking out multiple birds with a shotgun.
They are huge country music fans (especially Jelly Roll)
It is not just the hunting and fishing that has the Montana Boyz hooked on a country way of life — it is also the music. Country songs are a staple of not only their lip-synched vids but pretty much any other content with a musical overlay. One of the group's most popular videos has them lip-syncing to Luke Combs' "One Number Away" alongside three equally attractive friends, and another features them taking part in the Austin Line Dance trend. The viral trend began when country singer Dasha posted a video dancing to her song Austin," after which people started recreating her line dance. Though the Montana Boyz are by no means great dancers, their version, featuring Dasha herself, remains their most-watched video, with 17 million views.
In addition to lip-syncing to everyone from Morgan Wallen to Tucker Wetmore, the Montana Boyz also posted photos from a March 2024 Dierks Bentley concert. But none of that prepared them for the CMT Awards, where they got to brush elbows with a slew of country music stars. The Boyz' enthusiasm was evident on the red carpet, where they told Billboard they could not wait to see Cody Johnson and Jelly Roll perform. All three Montana Boyz later named Jelly Roll as the singer who made them the most starstruck. "We talked to him for a second," Kaleb Winterburn said in a Life & Style interview. "We were like, 'Holy ... what? We just talked to ...' Yeah, it was pretty cool."
Kaleb Winterburn comes from generations of ranchers
The Kristin Cavallari romance has a lot of eyes on Mark Estes, but don't sleep on Kaleb Winterburn, who just might be the hunkiest member of the Montana Boyz even with that mullet he hides away under his ball cap. And if you like country guys, Winterburn is as legit as it gets. He comes from a family that has worked for over a century in Montana, ranching and equine activities, which holds significant prestige in Montana. After all, Montana is a state where there are twice as many cows as there are people, so having a large-scale ranching operation is a big deal. The Winterburn ranching history dates back to the late 1800s, just after the Spanish-American War. It was then that Winterburn's great-great-grandfather started "breaking and schooling" horses for the U.S. military, who, back then, relied on horses to do everything from transport supplies to run reconnaissance missions.
Winterburn's grandfather has run a ranching operation in Montana since 1969, and by the looks of his social media, Winterburn knows his way around a herding farm. He is particularly fond of horses, who appear all over Winterburn's personal TikTok account, which has 150,000 followers. Winterburn and his homeboys have made it their mission to draw attention to the rancher way of life, and it has helped them find their niche. "We kind of realized like ... what do we have to offer that other places don't? And that's the whole country thing," Winterburn said on "Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari."
Mark Estes slid into Kristin Cavallari's DMs
Kristin Cavallari has been famous for a couple of decades now, and it all began with the reality show "Laguna Beach," where Cavallari was positioned as the "bad girl" opposite Lauren Conrad's more wholesome persona. Though Mark Estes had never seen "Laguna Beach" — no shocker, considering he was fresh out of diapers when it made its debut in 2004 — he eventually found his way to the Nashville-based reality star and businesswoman. Because this is how the world works now, Estes slid into Cavallari's DMs to try to gain her attention. He accidentally used the official Montana Boyz account, but Cavallari was responsive even before she realized it was her favorite Boyz member, Estes, on the other end of the chat.
While her first priority was setting up a time for the Boyz to record an episode of her podcast, "Let's Be Honest with Kristin Cavallari," the pair were already an item by the time the episode was recorded in March. "So, like, probably September, October, I saw you guys on TikTok, and I was like, 'Who the f*** are the Montana Boyz?' Mark, specifically, I was like, 'This guy is so hot.' So, I sent it to my best friend, and I was like, 'Look how hot this guy is.' We both were like, 'Yeah, wow, he's amazing,'" Cavallari said when she interviewed the group. "I get a DM from the Montana Boyz that said, 'I love you,' and I'm like, 'Oh my god! It's fate.'"
Kristin Cavallari gives them advice on fame – and Nashville
Estes may have been the one who got the girl, but fellow Montana Boyz Kaleb Winterburn and Kade Wilcox also benefited from the budding romance. The public interest helped their channel skyrocket in popularity, especially after Cavallari filmed a video with the group, and their numbers have only climbed from there. "It all kind of happened in the right time, but since that's happened, yeah, it's been a complete shift," Winterburn told People. "I think more people are curious about what we're doing — different age ranges, different everybody. It's just from her .... what she's done before. I think it's sweet to see all those other people that are curious about what we're trying to do."
In addition to helping them level up, Cavallari has been offering the crew tips on how to handle their newfound notoriety. "Kristin taught me to not get ahead of myself," Winterburn said in an exclusive interview with OK! Magazine. "She told me, 'Just stay in your lane and keep a level head,' but also 'don't get too excited about anything, don't get too sad about anything, and just keep going every day.'" The Montana Boyz have also been getting tips about Nashville from the former reality star, who moved to the area with her ex-husband Jay Cutler in 2017 (although they owned a home in the city for years before that). Cavallari dismissed dating in Nashville after her 2022 divorce, but her mindset clearly shifted once Estes came into the picture.
Mark Estes and Kristin Cavallari have already talked babies
Things moved very quickly between Kristin Cavallari and Mark Estes after their initial DM exchange. They hung out in a group setting in January 2024, and both Kade Wilcox and Kaleb Winterburn have said they noticed the smoldering connection the two shared. They continued to communicate online for a couple of weeks before their first official date, on February 13. "I think just like along with any first date, I was definitely a little nervous," Estes confessed to Page Six. "But yeah, it was great, and yeah, I'd say there was instant chemistry right away." Within two weeks, the couple went Instagram official — and Cavallari's February 27 post got all the tongues wagging. The chatter largely surrounded the couple's 13-year age difference, and while they have addressed the haters, neither party seemed especially concerned.
The duo has continued to gush about their relationship on social media and in interviews, and they have received renewed public criticism for how quickly things appear to be moving. Estes met Cavallari's three children when he picked her up for their first date, and both he and Cavallari have publicly admitted to their conversations about a baby of their own. "I'm not actively thinking about it, but it's definitely in the back of my mind, is, you know, he wants to have a kid," Cavallari told a friend on an April 2 episode of her podcast. "I'm mulling it over." Five days later, Estes confirmed to "Entertainment Tonight" that they "have had the talk."
The other two Montana Boyz are single
Mark Estes has locked things down with girlfriend Kristin Cavallari, but his groupmates are in absolutely no rush to find serious relationships of their own. At 22 and 24, Kade Wilcox and Kaleb Winterburn are both at an age where playing the field is still a priority. "Well, I think from what we've all heard from people who are older than us is, don't settle down. Wait to settle down," Winterburn told Cavallari on her podcast. "There's so many different things that could happen in the future, why not try to get to those in your 20s?" he said, to which Wilcox added, "It's not that we don't want to settle down. We just have individual goals we really want to reach."
Both single Montana Boyz have also said that moving to Nashville opened up a whole new world of opportunity when it comes to meeting women. They told Cavallari that the move gave them somewhat of a clean slate in terms of reputation, whereas in Butte, Montana, everyone knows your dating history. Nashville also has a much larger dating pool, and with so many added people, Wilcox and Winterburn can't help but act like kids in a candy store. "I'm just now getting back to like, actually going on dates. Because in Montana, growing up there ... there's only so many dates you could go on," Winterburn said on the "Benched" podcast in April 2024. "Because there's so many of your best friends who have slept with (a girl)."
They started a clothing brand with a message
Any social media star worth their salt knows that the only way to true wealth is to maximize your streams of income. Some of them go on tour, some of them start podcasts, and some of them write books — but nearly all of them develop some sort of product. Quite a few influencers have developed profitable businesses within their respective niches, but just as many have failed miserably. The Montana Boyz are hoping for the former with their clothing brand, Belmont Acres, which made its debut on February 9, 2024. The "Vol. 1" collection consists of only two sweatshirt designs and a hat, but the professional website and aesthetically pleasing products certainly show potential.
One thing the Montana Boyz made sure to do was connect their clothing brand to their rancher roots — and not just through the horse in their logo. "Belmont Acres isn't only a clothing brand, it's a way of life," they say on the website. "Our company combines traditional ranching with a commitment to wildlife and nature conservation." To show that they are not all talk, the creators set things up so that a portion of each purchase is donated to local ranchers from their home state. The Belmont Acres Instagram account has over 37,000 followers, but time will tell if the Montana Boyz can translate that into a long-term business. In the meantime, they are not hurting for endorsement deals. Recent partnerships include Levi's, Celsius, and American Eagle.