The Hawk Tuah girl has taken the internet by storm, and a recent interview has shed light on who she is and how she reacted to her overnight fame.
In an interview on the Plan Bri Uncut podcast with Brianna Lapaglia, the Hawk Tuah girl discussed her unexpected rise to stardom, unsettling reactions from some fans, and her family's reaction to her explicit advice.
If you have somehow missed all the fun, the Hawk Tuah girl was born out of a video where she was asked: "What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?"
She simply replied: "You gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang. You get me?"
That one sentence has propelled her to stardom... but who exactly is the Hawk Tuah Girl?
What is her name and how old is she?
The internet sensation is confirmed to be Haliey Welch, and during the interview, she confirmed that she is 21 years old.
It was thought that her name was spelt Hailey, but her official Instagram page confirms the correct spelling as Haliey.
How did she find out about the video?
When Welch was approached by Tim & Dee TV while out drinking in Nashville, she did not expect her interview to go viral.
When asked about how the video came about, Welch says she 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.
"[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.
Welch shared her initial surprise at seeing the video go viral. "I think he posted the full video on YouTube this past Sunday," she said.
She described her shock as the video’s views skyrocketed, adding: "Then I go back like an hour later and the views done went up like a million and I was like 'Oh my God, there is no way that just happened.'"
Welch's thoughts on her Hawk Tuah comments
The world was clamouring to find out who the Hawk Tuah girl was, and what she meant by her comments... Well, she has now revealed all.
In typical internet fashion, some people knew that Welch was joking around whereas others thought she was being deadly serious.
"You can tell that I'm obviously joking in it, I don't mean nothing by it," she confirmed.
What was Welch's job before Hawk Tuah propelled her to stardom?
When Hawk Tuah took social media by storm, there were rumors that Welch was a pre-school teacher and had been sacked from her job due to the sexual connotations that came with the video.
Welch has confirmed that this is untrue. "I worked in a spring factory - I'm not a school teacher," she said.
"I'm not even old enough to be teacher," she added. Welch also confirmed that she wasn't a bartender, per another rumor.
How did her family respond to the video?
There were also rumors flying around that Welch's family were very religious and were unhappy with her antics during that night out in Nashville.
One post circulated online that appeared to be from her father, who claimed to be a pastor and was appalled by the video, and that the family needed privacy to deal with the matter.
As you can probably now expect, none of this is true.
Welch confirmed that her parents found her viral comment amusing.
"They think it's so funny... they never know what's gonna come out of my mouth," she told Lapaglia.
She also addressed rumors about her father being a preacher: "My father is so far from a preacher it's crazy [...] None of it's true, at all," she stated.
Welch admitted that she "talk's out of [her] a**" and that her parents are completely accepting of who she is.
What happened after the video went viral?
Addressing the rumors that she had deleted all of her social media accounts due to the overnight fame, however, hundreds of fake accounts soon popped up.
"It's kind of creepy seeing your face on another account that don't belong to you," she said.
Welch emphasized that she had deleted her social media accounts six months ago for personal reasons, well before her rise to fame.
Welch also revealed that fans have made bizarre requests, including offering her $600 to spit in a jar.
"That is revolting! That is just disgusting, is it not?" she said.
She has teamed up with Fathead Threads to produce official merchandise which they share the profits from equally.
What does Welch plan to do now?
Lapaglia asked Welch how she felt about being known as the Hawk Tuah girl, with Welch responding that she doesn’t want the nickname to define her.
"I don't really want that to be my image... I mean, 'Hawk Tuah Girl'? [...] I don't want to be known as that," she said.
Since gaining fame, Welch plans to travel, appear on shows, and participate in podcasts. "There's more to come, don't worry," she assured fans.
Welch acknowledged receiving some negative attention online but remains unfazed.
"The people that are out here hatin', I don't even know 'em. So, what the f*** do I care?" she said.
