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18-year-old opens up on unusual phobia after terrified reaction to Michael Jackson impersonator goes viral

'I have a genuine fear of Michael Jackson. It all started when I was younger at about five years old,' Ruby Marriott said

ROTHERHAM, SOUTH YORKSHIRE: Ruby Marriott, who gained fame for documenting her in-the-moment encounter with a Michael Jackson phobia, has spoken out about the origins of the unusual fear. "Our first night in aiya napa took a turn for the worse," the video's caption reads, while the onscreen text states, "My sister has a phobia of Michael Jackson."

In the video, 18-year-old Marriott, who was on vacation in Cyprus's Ayia Napa, can be seen acting quite uncomfortably while a man in a red jacket and black pants does dance moves reminiscent of Michael Jackson to the tune of 'Thriller' in a pub. The video went viral in a couple of hours after being posted on TikTok, garnering an astounding nine million views. Some have even called for the young woman to make an appearance in the forthcoming season of ITV2's 'Big Brother'.

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Marriott, a resident of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, has finally spoken out about her MJ phobia. "I have a genuine fear of Michael Jackson. It all started when I was younger at about five years old," she said. "My sister and my cousin used to show me creepy edited videos of him that people made and conspiracy theories that he's alive." 

Marriott continued, "'Thriller' is the main song that scares me, mainly because of watching the music video when I was younger and it is one of his biggest hits so it's played around me a lot." The phobia was solidified during a family vacation to Los Angeles due to the interior of the place they were staying in.

"There was a door with about eight padlocks on it and one of my family members jokingly said 'what if Michael Jackson is hiding in there?,' knowing my phobia of him," Marriott said. "Every night for three weeks, I had the same nightmare of him creeping out of the wardrobe and coming for me while I was asleep. It was awful!" Marriott's fear of the King of Pop hasn't at all subsided even though a lot of time has transpired since these formative events.

Marriott had spent her first night in Ayia Napa to celebrate the nuptials of her uncle and aunt. She went into a "really quiet" bar with her family, but little did she know it would ruin her evening. She said about the now-viral video, "We had no idea about any tribute acts so we went in and had a few rounds of drinks. I was enjoying it a lot, we were all dancing, taking photos and having a laugh."

"It wasn't until half an hour in that I heard the start of Thriller playing and I instantly started panicking," Marriott continued. "I turned around and saw a Michael Jackson impersonator dancing around on the dance floor next to me. I ran over to where my family were sitting and instantly started crying and panicking even more."

Marriott was unsettled for the rest of the evening and had to FaceTime her boyfriend to recover. Mace, Marriott's sister, uploaded the video after sharing the video with her friends, who "found it hilarious." Marriott admitted that she initially didn't think much of her sister's video, but that she is finding "it funnier now, but it hasn't changed how I see Michael Jackson."