SYDNEY - KNOWN as the 'Chk-Chk-Boom Girl' to hundreds of thousands of YouTube viewers, Australian Clare Werbeloff gained instant celebrity as witness to a shooting in Sydney's nightlife district.

But in a twist to the tale, the 19-year-old now says the television interview she gave was pure invention and she never saw the shooting, The Australian newspaper reported Monday.

Shortly after a man was shot and wounded around 3.00am on May 17 on a street in Sydney's Kings Cross area, Ms Werbeloff gave a Nine Network cameraman a graphic eyewitness account of what she said had happened.

Using language considered highly offensive in most parts of the world but widely used in Australia to describe immigrants from some parts of Europe or the Middle East, Ms Werbeloff said as the camera rolled: '(He) pulled out a gun and went chk-chk-boom.'

The network posted the footage unedited on its website, from where it made its way to Internet video-sharing site YouTube and the eyes and ears of more than a quarter of a million viewers by Monday.

Contacted by police seeking a statement, Ms Werbeloff told them she had not seen anything and her account was simply a prank because she wanted to be famous, The Australian said.

The paper said Ms Werbeloff would appear on the Nine Network's programme 'A Current Affair' Monday night to explain her actions, which have led to T-shirts and beer mugs made in her honour and the offer of a bikini shoot. -- AFP