“Hawk Tuah Girl” Haliey Welch reveals her biggest regret since her viral fame

The woman behind what may be the most viral video of 2024 has revealed that she wishes she had capitalized on her newfound success sooner.

Haliey Welch rose to fame earlier this year after she used the phrase “Hawk Tuah” to describe a sexual act in a street interview.

“Love you, Pookie,” she called out before walking off with her friend Chelsea. For two weeks, the two kept a low profile while the world scoured the internet to find out more about the 21-year-old from Tennessee.

It was only when she appeared on Bri LaPaglia’s podcast The life of Bri to talk about how that infamous moment came about – before breaking her silence, she joined Ms. LaPaglia's boyfriend, country singer Zach Bryan, on stage.

From then on, her fame only grew, she became the “Girl of the American Summer” and cashed in by appearing on various podcasts, festivals and web series, and used her newfound success to donate money and food to animal shelters.

In the first episode of her Betr podcast Talk to TuahMs Welch admitted that she now regrets the decision to hide from the world.

She said it was “crazy” that she had said two words and now had all these opportunities.

“I wish I had jumped on this sooner,” she said of her newfound fame.

“I was afraid to leave the house for the first two weeks – I and [Chelsea] both of us. We locked ourselves in the bedroom.”

Ms. Welch also revealed details about the infamous “Pookie,” who she never named or featured in her social media content.

Her guest on the first episode, Whitney Cummins, asked Ms. Welch if she was dating anyone or using dating apps.

“No, I'm not on the apps. Stay away from me, men scare me. Pookie is still there, he just asked me out,” revealed Ms. Welch.

Ms Welch said she and the 24-year-old construction worker had been in an “on-off relationship” for three years, but it was only a few months ago that things got serious between the two.

Ms Cummins said it was probably better that they had not had an official first date while Ms Welch was still adjusting to her newfound success.

Ms Welch recently appeared on the first episode of Summer House star West Wilson's dating show. The best date ever.

Mr. West took Ms. Welch on a romantic fishing trip to Nashville, Tennessee, and immediately asked her how she felt about her Internet fame.

“Is the name Hawk Tuah okay with you?” he asked her.

She quickly replied, “We try to stay away from that.”

“Do you want to be Haliey?”

She said she wanted to be Haliey and not “Mrs. Hawk.”

Mr West then asked what she planned to do when her viral fame “wakes off,” and she revealed that she had been approached about starting podcasts or even appearing on reality TV.

However, some claimed the 22-year-old's 15 minutes of fame were already over after a video of her performing at the Rock The South festival in Alabama circulated last month.

Ms. Welch was invited on stage to warm up the crowd before the artists – Warren Zeiders and Jelly Roll – took the stage.

However, video footage showed Ms. Welch shouting, “Let’s go to Warren Zeiders and Jelly Roll!”

Then she squealed, but the audience was unimpressed – no one could keep up with her energy and screamed back. The hosts thanked Ms. Welch for her time and she left the stage.

People were not kind to Ms. Welch in the comments section. One claimed her “15 minutes [of fame] were above”.