Haliey Welch Shares Look Inside Her DMs After ‘Hawk Tuah’ Video Went Viral: 'Took My Breath Away' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Haliey Welch.Photo:Antosha Ginzburg

Antosha Ginzburg

Haliey Welch’s phone has been buzzing nonstop.

The 21-year-old Tennessee native has amassed an unimaginable amount of attention from strangers and stars alike since garnering fame overnight after her “Hawk Tuah” interview clip went viral online in June.

In an exclusive, tell-all interview with PEOPLE, Welch shared a glimpse inside her direct messages on social media while also opening up about the in-person interaction that “spooked” her after being recognized in public for the first time.

“My DMs are full of men,” Welch tells PEOPLE exclusively. “But that’s just not my cup of tea,” she admits, in part because she’s in a relationship that’s been “on-and-off” for the past two or three years.

Haliey Welch poses alongside a sheep.Antosha Ginzburg

“Pookie’s still in the picture,” Welch says, opting to keep her mystery man’s identity private. She notes, though, that he lives in “the next town over” from her hometown of Belfast, Tenn., approximately 25 minutes away.

Despite the unsteadiness of their romance over the years, Welch confirms: “We’re getting serious.”

Having a hometown sweetheart tracks for Welch, who previously expressed her disinterest in moving to Hollywood and says she prefers the “quiet” nature of her horse-farm-filled town with a population of 844 residents. “I don’t think I could ever date a celebrity,” she admits.

“They’ve probably been doing this a lot longer than me, so I don’t know. I don’t know if that would work,” she says, acknowledging her meteoric rise to fame.

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Haliey Welch in her hometown of Belfast, Tenn.Courtesy of Hailey Welch

Courtesy of Hailey Welch

Meanwhile, that doesn’t mean celebrities haven’t tried!

Rapper Yung Gravymade headlinesin August for sliding into Welch’s DMs, sparking conflict over his intentions when inviting her to one of his concerts. Was he asking her on a date or not was the question asked, resulting in conflicting responses from both parties.

“That was a conversation,” Welch tells PEOPLE when recalling her exchange with the rapper, seemingly intent on moving forward from the past.

Gravy aside, Welch names one of her “favorite” celebrity DMs that left her speechless. “Definitely Sexyy Red,” she says of the “Pound Town” rapper. “Took my breath away,” she recalls of the unexpected message she received.

“She was like, ‘Girl, come out to a show.’ And I was like, ‘Oh, okay. I will!’ "

Haliey Welch and Matt Rife.Hope Goudy

Hope Goudy

As far as in-person interactions with celebrities go, since entering the Hollywood scene, Welch says “most of them have been accepting” of her. “I think everybody I’ve met celebrity-wise has been really nice.”

The one star in particular whom Welch met in Hollywood and “hit it off” with wasWhitney Cummings. “I love her to death. She’s been a mentor to me this whole time,” she shares of the multi-hyphenate known for CBS’s hit2 Broke Girlsand NBC’s seriesWhitney.

Kaitlyn Bristowe, too, was another who “clicked so well” with Welch. “And then of courseMatt Rife,” she adds of the comedian,whom she once calledher “celebrity crush.”

While Welch’s sudden fame has led to new opportunities, exciting interactions and skyrocketed attention online — an ironic one, given her deletion of social media because she “had no interest in being on there” six months prior to going viral — she says she’s had “a few strange encounters,” too.

After numerous attempts to convince her pal that a man was looking at her, the friend finally looked around to see him suddenly standing immediately behind them. “He done walked up to us and he was like, ‘I know you,’ " she says.

“And I was like, ‘No, you don’t.’ He’s like, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And I was like, ‘No, no, no, you don’t!’ " she recalls of her interaction with the stranger. “He’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re that girl in the video!’ And I was like, ‘What video?’ I just played it off real good.”

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As they went to exit Walmart, Welch says the man “starts yelling” at her “I know you!” while she and her friend “ran out of there… We were gone!”

“It spooked me,” Welch admits of her first time being recognized. “I didn’t go out in public for a little bit.”

Now, Welch has learned to roll with the “strange encounters,” and “tries to be nice” when she meets people who approach her, even if she doesn’t know them. “I’m like, ‘Okay, that was strange.’ "

She adds, “And I’ll just kind of go on about my day.”

source: people.com