The young woman who shot to fame after a clip of her offering an enthusiastic sex tip went viral has finally spoken out.
Haliey Welch – now known as the ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl – described her surprise at becoming an overnight sensation, the ‘creepy’ reaction she’s had from men online and how her parents were unphased by her explicit advice.
Speaking to Brianna Lapaglia on the Plan Bri Uncut podcast Monday, the 21-year-old said fans had offered her up to $600 to spit in a jar for them. But Welch – whose unusual spelling of her Christian name has been confirmed by DailyMail.com – added she was hesitant to be ‘Hawk Tuah’ girl forever.
She also revealed she has quit her factory job and employed management since the clip of her explaining how to ‘make a man go crazy in bed’ during a Nashville street video for Tim & Dee TV aired June 19 on YouTube and racked up more than 3million views.
When asked what her parents think of her viral comment, Welch replied: ‘They think it’s so funny… they never know what’s gonna come out of my mouth,’ she told Lapaglia.
Welch initially isolated herself in rural Tennessee where she lives with her family. Her friends and family built a protective wall around her to shield her from the publicity.
Since being thrust into the spotlight, she explained she had received ‘revolting’ offers’ from fans who attempted to reach her through the man she has partnered with to offer special ‘Hawk Tuah’ merchandize.
She said: ‘So, the guy that does my hats, he got offered $600 three days ago for me to spit in a jar and sell it. That is revolting! That is just disgusting, is it not?’
She also expressed her frustration at social media users ‘spelling my name wrong’ and making accounts with her photos on. She insists she deleted all of her social media six months ago – long before becoming an internet sensation.
‘It’s kind of creepy seeing your face on another account that don’t belong to you,’ Welch explained.
Welch joined Lapaglia, also known as ‘Brianna Chickenfry,’ just two days after sharing the stage with Lapaglia’s boyfriend Zach Bryan at the Nashville Nissan Stadium.
Welch was hailed the ‘queen of the internet’ after being asked for her tips on how to please a man in bed.
Enthusiastically she said: ‘You gotta give ’em that hawk tuah.’
Hundreds of memes followed, there was talk of a Hollywood agent, the phrase was yelled out by a fan as 2024 US Open golf champion Bryson DeChambeau hit a tee shot at the LIV event in Nashville and gymnast Olivia Dunne has joined the craze.
Mixed martial arts hero Conor McGregor tweeted on X: ‘Have we located hawk tuah yet?’
Welch confirmed to Lapaglia that she had been out drinking that evening but that her vulgar comment was intended as a joke and that she ‘didn’t mean anything by it.’
The rising star was then quizzed on who her celebrity crush is in a game called ‘Hawk Tuah or Nah.’
Lapaglia first asked what Welch thought of her own country singer boyfriend, telling Welch to ‘be careful.’
Welch and Chelsea Bradford, the friend that stood next to her in the viral clip, both broke out in laughter before telling Lapaglia: ‘I love you, but hawk tuah.’
The pair went on to show interest in Morgan Wallen. However, they did not recognize who Tampa Bay Buccaneers Wide Receiver Antonio Brown.
They also initially failed to recognize Dave Portnoy, the owner of Barstool Sports, but after Lapaglia showed them a picture they gave him a ‘Hawk.’
Welch and Bradford were also reluctant when asked about professional boxer and Youtuber Jake Paul, but they immediately turned down the offer to ‘hawk tuah’ former President Donald Trump.
Welch explained that she never expected to see the clip again after it was filmed.
She said: ‘I think he posted the full video on YouTube this past Sunday but he only told us he was a YouTuber, he never said anything about you know Instagram, TikTok, nothing of the sort.
‘So I was like ‘oh well I’m never going to see this again but sure enough I seen it again.’
She describes how she first saw the video had gotten a million views but added she assumed it would not ‘get any bigger’ than that.
‘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 added.
Lapaglia then asked the internet sensation how she felt about being known as the Hawk Tuah girl, something Welch said she doesn’t want to be called for the rest of her life.
She then got into the many fake social media accounts made that pretended to be her, but she claims she deleted her accounts months before the video.
Welch also debunked rumors about where she and her family worked. The internet initially said that Welch was a school teacher that was fired after the video came out, and that her father was a preacher.
‘I worked in a spring factory, I’m not a school teacher,’ she said.
‘My father is so far from a preacher, it’s crazy.’
She said that after she became famous she quit her job and now plans on traveling across the county and ‘be on a show and be on a bunch of podcasts and everything else in between.’
‘There’s more to come, don’t worry,’ she added.
Besides creepy men swarming her online, Welch said she has also gotten a good amount of hate from people, but she doesn’t care about it.
She said: ‘The people that are out here hatin’, I don’t even know ’em. So, what the f**k do I care?’
Carol Dennis is an entertainment aficionado with an eye for all things pop culture. She dives into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry, from movie premieres to music festivals. Carol’s passion for storytelling extends beyond her reporting, as she’s an aspiring screenwriter in her free time.
