The 'Hawk Tuah Girl' has spoken out for the very first time about her newfound fame in her very first interview.
In case you've been living under a rock void of southern charisma, social media has been ablaze with memes and videos all about one woman: The 'Hawk Tuah Girl'.
The Hawk Tuah Girl is actually a young woman named Hailey Welch, who has quickly gained Internet stardom after appearing in a man-on-the-street interview by the social media channel Tim & Dee TV.
In one video, shared on June 11, Welch was on a night out with a friend when she took part in a few saucy questions. She was then asked the provocative question: “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?”
Her unfiltered answer instantly became the catalyst for her viral fame. "You gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang. You get me?" she said.
Just check out the video below:
After the full video was released, it was evident that Welch was not just a one-line wonder, and was - in fact - the most likeable human on the face of the planet, delivering quotable line after quotable line.
As the days and weeks have rolled on, rumors continued to swell about Welch - about her love life, job, social media accounts and more. But, apart from selling some merch and appearing at a Zach Bryan concert, she's remained fairly quiet.
Until now.
In her very first podcast and interview, Welch sat down with Plan Bri Uncut's Brianna LaPaglia about her newfound fame.
During the interview, Welch confirmed that her name was, indeed, Hailey Welch and that she is 21 years old.
When asked about how the video came about Welch says she's was out at the CMA Fest in Nashville when she was approached to do the video. "Next thing I know, there's a microphone in my face and I was like, 'Ooh! I'm gonna conversate with them,'" she said.
When LaPaglia complemented her for being so natural on-screen, Welch replied: "I could talk to a brick wall if you really let me."
Welch then admitted that she never thought anything would come of the video. "[The interviewer] only told us he was a YouTuber [...] I was like, 'I'm never gonna see this again.' Sure enough, I've seen this again."
As the original video started blowing up, Welch revealed the moment she knew she was going viral on social media.
"That was Sunday, I seen it about the Tuesday after that -- I s**t a brick. I seen it like 2 o'clock in the morning while I was getting up ready for work," she said, before addressing the viral rumor that she was an elementary school teacher who was fired from her job over the video.
Adamantly, Welch told the camera: "I worked in a spring factory - I'm not a school teacher!"
Of course, this rumor was sparked by the Facebook page Tippah County Tribune (TCT), which shared a satirical article about Welch's "firing" that many people took seriously.
"I'm not even old enough to be teacher," she added. Welch also confirmed that she wasn't a bartender, per another rumor.
Addressing another rumor that her father was a local preacher, she added: "My father is so far from a preacher it's crazy [...] None of it's true, at all."
She also revealed that she has not deleted her social media accounts because of the video. In fact, she deleted her socials six months ago for "personal" reasons - long before her video went viral.
But with a "full management team" behind her, Welch says they're "working" on getting her back on social media.
Welch then address the negative side to her newfound fame, revealing that she was initially uneasy about all the attention she was receiving. She also said she started to feel very uncomfortable when people started creating fake social media accounts of her and taking photos from her friends' profiles.
But she says that her family finds the whole thing "so funny", before revealing that, "I don't really want that to be my image... I mean, 'Hawk Tuah Girl'? [...] I don't want to be known as that."
Welch's friend, Chelsea - who was with her on that fateful nightout - says that she should totally "take advantage" of the newfound fame.
Welch admitted that there's "more to come" and that she now plans on going to Los Angeles and New York for more opportunities.