Toronto's "Bridezilla" is blushing.

But some 2.1 million YouTube viewers worldwide – and counting – can stop wondering about her wiggy hair and her messed-up wedding plans.

It was all a hoax, as many suspected. There was no wedding. But there was some chopped hair.

Bridezilla's real name is Jodi Behan, age 22 and an aspiring actress. She and her pals sure raised a ruckus, especially after yesterday's Toronto Star story on the mystery video of a Canuck bridal meltdown playing on YouTube. The story helped drive up already sky-high views of the video by more than 300,000, making its 2.1 million views a genuine Canadian hit.

"I cannot believe all this," Behan wrote in an email to the Star yesterday, after numerous friends, family and associates blew her cover.

"It's embarrassing and exciting and overwhelming."

She declined to be interviewed, saying she has to wait to talk to family and friends first.

She was just a regular Torontonian, until she agreed to take part in a drama staged by Ryerson University grad Ingrid Haas, a local performance artist who wanted to make a splash on YouTube.com, the popular video-sharing website.

In the video, titled Bride Has Massive Hair Wig Out, Behan plays a discombobulated bride-to-be, also named Jodi, who becomes enraged after getting a bad haircut from a stylist one hour before her wedding. She grabs a pair of scissors and begins hacking at her own hair – the one true moment in the video – as her horrified bridesmaids look on.

Bridesmaid Jessie is Jodi's real sister Jessie, age 24.

"They're characters, I'll give you that," said their mother, who would only identify herself as "Mrs. Behan."

"They're great girls. But I'm not going to say any more. This is their thing."

Haas hatched the plan and taped it all. A fourth Toronto woman, identified only as Esther, 24, was also involved, playing another bridesmaid.

Haas declined to give details of the hoax when the Star contacted her by telephone last night. The sound of giggling in the background indicated Haas and her friends were enjoying all the attention they'd received yesterday, which included the airing of the clip on NBC's The Today Show.

"I would love to tell you all about it. I will have to hold off," Haas said, without elaborating.

A friend named Laurent posted a message on Haas's Facebook page, congratulating her on a successful scam. "A little birdie told me it was `faux,'" he wrote. "Either way (Jodi) is a fantastic bit of freak-out genius. My whole office is a buzz (sic) with its viral appeal ..."

Laurent isn't alone in his appreciation of the power of Haas's hoax, which rivals the one pulled last year by U.S. actress Jessica Rose, a woman in her 20s who created a fictional teen she called "Lonely Girl" and conned millions of credulous YouTube viewers.

Veteran Toronto film director Norman Jewison saw Behan's YouTube performance at the Star's request and he immediately suspected it was staged. But he was impressed by the acting nonetheless.

"Wouldn't you hire her as an actress? I sure would," Jewison said. "If she's not one, then maybe she should become one. It's hysterical."

Behan's best friend Emily Millen, who recently moved to California to pursue her own acting career, hadn't heard of the bridal hoax when contacted by the Star.

"No way!" she wrote.

"I love her. (Jodi) is sooo talented and amazing. I am acting in L.A. and she plans to come here eventually. Please write a story on her. She would love it."

Consider it done. Behan is getting all the publicity she could want, and then some.