Following the scenes in Glasgow where a now-viral Willy Wonka event turned out to be a disaster, the actress behind the sad Oompa Loompa has had her say.
Frustration bubbled among parents when the touted "immersive" Willy Wonka experience closed its doors ahead of schedule, leaving behind disappointed children clutching lollipops instead of the promised chocolate river.
Parents claimed that they paid £35 ($44) for a ticket to arrive at a sparsely decorated warehouse where children were only given a single jelly bean and half a cup of grocery store limeade in the underwhelming experience.
If you've been on the internet recently, you've definitely seen a meme or two about the Willy Wonka event. In case you haven't, here are a few to get you up to speed:
Kirsty Paterson, embodying the iconic Oompa Loompa character, became an unwitting face of the chaos when a snapshot of her dressed in a less-than-stellar costume went viral.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, she revealed her attempts to stay calm amidst the chaos, driven by the excitement of the children attending the event.
"I got given the £1 ($1.20), Poundland inappropriate Oompa Loompa outfit... I was contemplating, do I just walk out?" Paterson confessed. "Then I started seeing the kids coming in and they were all dressed up and all cute and I just didn't want to let them down. It was just such a shame."
Watch the Oompa Loompa actress speak out below:
Echoing Paterson's views, Jenny Fogarty, another actress cast as an Oompa Loompa, highlighted the lack of direction provided to the cast.
"When we were asked about makeup, we were told to improvise, just to do our makeup as crazy as we wanted. There was no direction," she said.
The chaos reached its peak when the event was called off, leaving many parents furious and demanding refunds - which resulted in the police allegedly being called.
"We walked out to the pub, all actors, went to the pub and when we came back there were four police vans," Paterson recalled.
Adding insult to injury, actors claim they have yet to receive payment for their services. Fogarty claimed: "None of the actors have been paid as of yet."
She added: "I actually feel really, really bad because they've not had any refunds either especially in a cost of living crisis, it's a lot of money to people these days."
Paul Connell, the man tasked with leading the day as Willy Wonka, revealed the disappointment of attendees who were promised a magical experience but received something completely different.
He said: "We were told to hand out one jelly bean per child, and a quarter of a cup of Tesco own-brand lemonade. That was what the children got - no chocolate!"
Speaking on his TikTok account, Connell revealed that the script had been written by AI, meaning it was "generated gibberish" and created characters not normally part of the world of Wonka.
In probably the most viral, and funniest, clip of the event, Connell can be heard saying: "There is a man who lives here. His name is not known, so we call him the unknown. The unknown is an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls."
Children could be heard squealing in fear as the silver-masked entity - which isn't part of the Willy Wonka story usually - crept out from behind a mirror.
The event's organizers have pledged to reimburse ticket holders, acknowledging the mismanagement that ruined the event, per the Daily Mail.
While the day was ruined for many children, at least the internet is now seeing the funny side of it all.
