Jimmy Kimmel confirmed Thursday night that U.S. Olympian Kate Hansen did, indeed, cry wolf on Wednesday when she uploaded a YouTube video called “Epic #SochiFail: Wolf in my hall,” and even showed his audiences the director’s cut.
While the video Hansen tweeted out to her 21,600 Twitter followers earlier this week had just captured a wolf roaming her hallway, the unedited 34-second clip (above) features Kimmel following the animal on skis.
“Have you seen my wolf?” Kimmel asks the camera.
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A number of major news outlets — even the Weather Channel, Kimmel noted — fell for the viral video prank. Kimmel, of course, played the various reports with glee for his viewers after coming clean.
“Here’s the thing. That was not a Russian wolf. That was an American wolf,” Kimmel explained. “And I know this, because the wolf is back stage right now.”
Hansen, a member of the U.S. Luge team, appeared via Skype and offered her services any time, even if she did get in some minor trouble for the prank, which required her to send Kimmel’s team pictures of her dorm so they could create a replica to film the wolf — a Timber Wolf mix named Rugby — roaming freely.
“Honestly, there was a little more backlash than I thought there would be, but it was all worth it in the end,” Hansen said. “I started hearing people talk around the building, and security started freaking out, because technically there was a breach. You know, athlete safety. Kinda went a little crazy over here.”
Watch Kimmel and Hansen discuss the details of their prank in the interview below: