A viral video left many viewers in shock as they watched how a young girl’s “twerking” mishap appeared to lead to her catching on fire.
In a YouTube clip, a young girl prances around her living room and shows off her suggestive dance moves before she topples over and lands on a coffee table which holds several lit candles.
She immediately jumps up, screaming hysterically as flames crawl up her leg.
The video – titled “Worst Twerk Fail EVER – Girl Catches on Fire!” – received more than 9 million views within a week. Several news stations and media outlets — including theGrio — reported on the video.
However, it was all just a hoax — and late night comedian Jimmy Kimmel was behind the prank.
On his talk show Monday night, Kimmel revealed that the video was staged.
He invited the woman — whose real name is Daphne Avalon — to join him on his show as they both surprised audience members and viewers with their reveal.
Kimmel played the video again, this time showing an additional clip at the end where he enters the room and extinguishes the fire. He then smirks at the camera and gives a thumbs-up.
Avalon, who in reality works as a stuntwoman, giggled alongside Kimmel as he said: “So there ya go. For the conspiracy theorists on the Internet who thought it was fake, you were right, it was fake – we made it up.”
Follow Lilly Workneh on Twitter @Lilly_Works