Teen has Michael Jackson phobia and can’t beat it

By Charlotte Penketh-King via SWNS

The teen from the Michael Jackson phobia video has opened up about her crippling fear - and says even hearing "Thriller" gives her chills.

Ruby Marriott, 18, had been enjoying herself on the first night of a family vacation in Ayia Napa, Cyprus, on Monday, August 22, when her evening of fun ended in tears.

A Michael Jackson impersonator performed in the bar they were in - and Ruby's huge fear of the King of Pop hit hard.

A video by sister Macey, 19, shows Ruby crying, unable to look at the musician.

The video went viral, and Ruby has opened up about what exactly terrifies her so much about Michael Jackson.

Student Ruby, from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, said: "I have a genuine fear of Michael Jackson.

"It all started when I was younger at about five years old.

"My sister and my cousin used to show me creepy edited videos of him that people made and conspiracy theories that he’s alive, like photos of him in the background of photos and in people's windows.

"Even when his music plays, I have a rush of fear through me.

"'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.

"If a family member plays his songs, I have to walk out of the room."

"The fear started getting worse when we went on a family holiday to L.A. and stayed in a house we rented for three weeks.

"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.

"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!

"The photoshopped photos of him have made my phobia worse, people just send them to me or show me and it takes me back to him crawling out of my wardrobe.

"I’m now 18 and the phobia hasn’t gotten any better!"

Family and friends of Ruby knew about her unusual fear.

Heading out on Monday night to celebrate her uncle and aunt getting married, Ruby was sitting down after dancing at Bedrock Bar when the night turned sour.

"It was my first night in Ayia Napa and funnily enough, the first bar we went to was really quiet so not many people there," she said.

"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.

"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. I couldn’t even look at him!

"I thought my fear was bad enough until I saw someone who looked exactly like him - it just got worse!

"We left the bar, but I couldn’t get it out of my head all night. It took me a while to get to sleep - I had to FaceTime my boyfriend to fall asleep to!"

After Ruby's traumatic encounter with the King of Pop, her sister Macey posted a clip of her tearful reaction to the impersonator on TikTok - and it quickly went viral.

Over nine million people have watched Macey's video with many flooding to the comments to say they were also scared of Michael Jackson.

One wrote: "ME TOO IT'S MY PHOBIA!"

Another said: "I love Michael but this phobia is very justifiable."

One user tagged a friend, saying: "I actually low key have this fear too"

Another commented: "I have the same thing, I can't sleep, he gives me nightmares."

Shocked by the reaction to the clip, Ruby said: "We didn’t expect the video to go viral at all! Macey thought it was funny to post - but I didn’t!

"I am finding it funnier now, but it hasn’t changed how I see Michael Jackson.

"I still find him terrifying - it was traumatizing!"

Macey said: "I originally showed my friends the video and they found it hilarious so I posted it on my TikTok, not expecting it to blow up like it did.

"Ruby has always been a funny and dramatic character so it’s funny to me that she’s blown up for it!"