Exclusive: Hailey Welch Mortified by Video from Hawk Tuah | Entertainment

Chances are you have heard of “Hawk Tuah Girl,” however do you actually know the particular person behind the viral meme?

Meet Haliey Welch, the spunky 21-year-old Internet phenom who skyrocketed to fame after uninhibitedly providing a unusual intercourse tip in response to a “nasty” query requested throughout a man-on-the-street interview in Nashville in June.

The query posed? “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?” Welch's response? “You gotta give ’em that ‘hawk tuah’ and spit on that thang!”

In an unique interview with PEOPLE, Welch seems again on the quip that instantaneously secured a spot within the popular culture dialog — a one-liner that is taken her life from a Tennessee city with “not a single red light” to the other, Hollywood.

“It's been hella hectic,” Welch says of the whirlwind she's skilled within the final three months because the video she appeared in was first uploaded by creators Tim & Dee TV on Instagram. It has amassed 18 million views up to now.

The elevated consideration and “Hawk Tuah Girl” nickname had been particularly jarring for Welch, who was born and raised within the small city of Belfast, Tenn., with a inhabitants of 844 residents and “cow fields everywhere.”

“In Belfast, there's not a single red light,” Welch says with satisfaction. “You have maybe a few stop signs, but you don't have a red light. We have a gas station, a dollar store — and let's see, what else do we got? Oh, a post office!”

Welch's fame is the textbook definition of in a single day success. Once the video was posted, two days after filming downtown on the evening she attended the CMA Music Festival together with her buddy Chelsea, she observed all of her group chats “blowing up” when she woke as much as report back to her job the following morning.

Her place of employment? A spring manufacturing unit. “You know, like a spring. Boing!” Welch clarifies when requested. “I was over in shipping … so I've just put however many in a box a customer orders and then we ship them out.”

But as soon as the “Hawk Tuah” video racked up the views, Welch racked up a group. She rapidly discovered a lawyer and administration, finally resulting in her departure from the spring manufacturing unit (and her 3 a.m. wakeup instances).

“We talked about doing a lot of traveling and I couldn't take off work for it,” she explains. “That's the only reason I quit, because I enjoyed my job.”

But earlier than packing her suitcase and hopping on her first-ever airplane experience to kickstart the following chapter within the highlight, Welch admits she “hid for two weeks” after her suggestive catchphrase went viral. “I was embarrassed to death to come out of my house,” she says.

Welch nonetheless lives together with her paternal grandmother, who has raised her since she was a child. “I've lived with my granny since I was 9 months old,” she says. Her mom is out of the image, “and then my dad, he's still here, he just lives in his own house and we'll see each other a few times a week.”

The relationship Welch has together with her grandmother is particular — and in line with her description, they share the identical humor as nicely. “That's exactly where I get my mouth from … It comes from her,” she says with amusing.

Given the sexual undertone of the video that precipitated Granny's granddaughter success, you are most likely questioning what her preliminary ideas had been when “Hawk Tuah Girl” went viral.

“So she didn't see it … actually, I hid it from her for a little while,” Welch admits.

“But when I finally explained it to her, I had to tell her three different times before she understood it,” she continues. “And she was like, ‘Oh, spit on it!' And I was like, ‘Don't say that to me!' But yeah, it's kind of funny.”

Welch's mom hasn't tried to succeed in out amid her daughter's fame, although she says she wound up telling her dad. “He's like, ‘That don't surprise me,' ” she remembers her father telling her. Welch's two older brothers — in traditional sibling style — “think it's funny.”

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Family apart, Welch has attracted fairly a various fanbase ranging from the common social media scroller to A-listers, having shared the stage with Zach Bryan throughout one in all his concert events and becoming a member of Shaquille O'Neal within the DJ sales space.

Her Instagram alone has 2.5 million followers, an enormous quantity for somebody who did not have an activated social media account for “mental health reasons” previous to the viral second. “I had no interest in being on there,” she admits.

Welch is conscious of the negativity that comes together with her newfound stardom, like those that consider she solely has quarter-hour of fame. “Most of them that comment hateful things under my stuff, it says ‘Follow back,' ” she quips. “That's kind of self-explanatory.”

Above all, Welch is adamant about utilizing her mega platform for good — which is why she began a basis referred to as Paws Across America, a charitable endeavor she's keen about. The fund was created to deliver consciousness, advocacy and monetary help to animal charities inside the United States.

“I didn't ask for this and I'm grateful I have it, so I want to help others too,” Welch says, including, “I'm taking really good care of granny … I got her a new vacuum cleaner yesterday!”

Now, Welch is head down on her newest enterprise: the Talk Tuah podcast. Each episode, which is streamable on Spotify, will characteristic conversations with a unique celeb overlaying subjects like “dating advice” and “girl talk,” she shares.

Welch says she's additionally had talks about increasing her presence onscreen — tossing round concepts like actuality TV or a documentary of types — however as of proper now, her fundamental focus is the podcast (which is at present ranked No. 3 on Spotify's Top Comedy Podcast chart). “I'm sure that'll come later on,” she says of the opposite concepts.

“It's a lot, but it's fun,” Welch admits when reflecting on the final three months and all that is occurred since she stumbled upon strangers who unexpectedly uprooted the life she was residing in her small Tennessee city.

But as for whether or not she plans to relocate to Hollywood sooner or later for good? “Girl, uh-uh,” Welch says.

“Do you hear how quiet it is in here?” she asks, whereas Zooming in from Granny's home in Belfast. “I like that. That's my peace of mind.”