The woman behind possibly the most viral video of 2024 has revealed she wished she leaned into her new-found success sooner.
Haliey Welch rose to fame earlier this year after a “on the street” style interview where she used the term “hawk tuah” to describe a sex act.
“Love you, Pookie,” she shouted before walking off with her pal, Chelsea. For two weeks, the duo laid low as the world scoured the internet in a bid to find out more about the 21-year-old from Tennessee.
It wasn’t until she appeared Bri LaPaglia’s podcast Life of Bri to talk about how the infamous moment came to be — before joining Ms LaPaglia’s boyfriend, country singer Zach Bryan, on stage that she broke her silence.
Her fame only rose from there where she became the girl of the American summer and she’s cashed in, appearing on various podcasts, festivals, internet series and using her new-found success to donate money and food to animal shelters.
Now, in the first episode of her Betr podcast, Talk Tuah, Ms Welch revealed that hiding from the world was a decision she now regretted.
She said it was “crazy” that she said two words and now she’d had all these opportunities.
“I wish I had jumped on it sooner though,” she said, discussing her new-found fame.
“I was scared to come out of my house for the first two weeks — me and [Chelsea] both. We locked ourselves in the bedroom.”
Ms Welch also gave details about the infamous “Pookie” — someone she has never named or shown in any of her social media content.
Her guest for episode one, Whitney Cummins, asked Ms Welch if she was dating anyone or if she was on the dating apps.
“Hell no, I ain’t on the apps. Stay away from me, men scare me. Pookie’s still in the picture, he just took me on a date,” Ms Welch revealed.
Ms Welch said she and the 24-year-old construction worker had been “on and off” for three years but the pair only started to get serious a few months ago.
Ms Cummins said it was probably for the best that they hadn’t gone on an official first date yet while Ms Welch is still settling into her new-found success.
Ms Welch recently appeared on the debut episode on Summer House star West Wilson’s dating show West Date Ever.
Mr West took Ms Welch on a romantic fishing date in Nashville, Tennessee, and he was quick to ask about how she feels about her internet fame.
“Are you OK with the name Hawk Tuah,” he asked her.
She was quick to respond, saying; “We’re trying to step away from it.”
“You want to be Haliey?”
She said yes, she wanted to be Haliey and not “Mrs Hawk”.
Mr West then asked what she planned to do once her viral fame “died down” and she revealed she’s been approached about starting podcasts or even appearing on reality television.
However, some have claimed that the 22-year-old’s 15 minutes of fame are already up after a video began to circulate of her at Rock The South Festival in Alabama last month.
Ms Welch was invited on stage in a bid to hype up the crowd before the performer — Warren Zeiders and Jelly Roll — was set to hit the stage.
However, video footage showed Ms Welch shout; “Let’s here for Warren Zeiders and Jelly Roll!”
She then squealed but the audience was unimpressed — with no one matching her energy and screaming back. The hosts then thanked Ms Welch for her time and she left the stage.
People were not kind to Ms Welch in the comment section, with one claiming her “15 minutes [of fame] were up”.
