entertainment

Bindi Irwin gets asked whether she farted on live TV. (Spoiler: She didn't.)

 

It seems our Tall Poppy Syndrome may just be contagious.

A 17-year-old dancing Aussie is at the centre of Windgate – the latest crisis to grip America.

Yep, the US has gone wild over whether the crowned queen of Dancing With The Stars, Bindi Irwin, ‘farted with excitement’ on live TV after a gassy-sounding noise was picked up by the microphones when she hugged her dance partner, Derek Hough, after surviving elimination on a recent show.

Though the noise isn’t all that suspect – it definitely sounds more like a technical error than flatulence – the unfortunate fact that the dance champ’s name made great headline fodder like, ‘Windy Bindi’ or ‘Windy Irwin’, probably just fanned the flames.

Fart or flap? You be the judge…

Video via ABC

The teenage Wildlife Warrior was questioned by gossip site TMZ over the weekend whether the noise was her just letting one rip.

“No,” she insisted.

“That was the mic, actually. If a mic could actually pick that kind of thing up, that’s an extraordinary mic.

“But nope, not me.”

Letting one rip here could have been awkward…

Thanks for clearing that up, Bindi. (That’s also one giant step back for the #AskHerMore movement.)

The teen – who arrived home in Queensland this morning with brother Robert and mum Terri in tow – at least managed to see the funny side, adding that the whole scandal was “kind of funny”.

She should be the one laughing too. She just pocketed more than $300,000 for taking out the mirror ball trophy, a sum she says will be going straight back into wildlife conservation.

At least the pay check makes up for the internationally newsworthy fart rumours… we think.