World, Meet Pookie: Haliey Welch, aka "Hawk Tuah Girl," Finally Reveals Her Boyfriend

If you've been living under a rock for the past few months, let us catch you up to speed. Haliey Welch, a sweet southern gal from Belfast, Tenn., went viral for the phrase "hawk tuah spit on that thang," which subsequently made her an internet sensation and earned her the nickname "Hawk Tuah."

Many thought that viral moment was the end of her, but they were sorely mistaken. Haliey has since met some of the biggest names in entertainment, including Shaq, and launched her own podcast.

While some are obsessed with her authenticity, others are curious about her dating life. And now, she’s finally revealing her boyfriend, whom she lovingly calls "Pookie." In Episode 10 of Talk Tuah with Haliey Welch, the influencer introduced Pookie and discussed their first meetup. Here are all the deets!

Haliey's boyfriend, whom she often refers to as Pookie, is actually named Kelby, and he works as a plumber for Local 572, a union for the Nashville, Tenn. area. Haliey, being the comedian that she is, initially joked that her boyfriend was a "pipe layer." While he does technically work with piping, the title doesn't exactly describe his line of work, if you catch our drift.

With Haliey's growing popularity, Kelby revealed during his first podcast appearance that he is now referred to as Pookie at work. "I have no identity anymore, everywhere I go, it's Pookie, Pookie, Pookie," he joked.

During Kelby's appearance on episode 10 of the Talk Tuah podcast, he spilled the tea about their first hangout, revealing Haliey made him drive all the way to Lewisburg. When he arrived, he was certain someone was in the car, but after checking, he didn’t spot anyone. Turns out, Haliey cousin KK was hiding on the back floorboard under a blanket for a solid three hours, and she “didn’t make one peep.” Haliey explained she didn’t want to go alone, so KK, being the "G" she is, tagged along.

Haliey says that when they went in to share a kiss, she peeked over and noticed KK peeking out from under the covers. Kelby joked that Haliey only confessed about KK being in the car about two weeks after their hangout, but Haliey quickly corrected him, saying it was actually years before he found out. Looks like these two have been keeping things under wraps for a while!

In addition to sharing details about his job and their first date, Kelby also opened up about his first reaction to the famous "Hawk Tuah spit on that thang" video (and honestly, we've all been dying to know how he felt about it!).

"I didn’t really know what to say. I just know that I woke up to a Snapchat from you that said, 'You're gonna see something this morning that you probably don’t want to see, just disregard it,' and then I opened up my TikTok, and there it was." He admitted that he texted her after seeing the viral moment, and she was crying. But after he was able to confirm he was "Pookie," it seems he felt a little bit better about it all.