Fiji Water Girl

2019viral photoclassic

Published August 20, 2026

Fiji Water Girl is the nickname given to model Kelleth Cuthbert, who was hired to hand out bottled water on the 2019 Golden Globes red carpet and accidentally photobombed dozens of celebrity shots with a knowing smirk. Her scene-stealing appearances turned her into the awards season's first viral meme within hours.

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Overview

Fiji Water Girl is the nickname the internet slapped on model Kelleth Cuthbert after she spent the 2019 Golden Globes red carpet drifting behind A-list interviews with a metal tray of Fiji water bottles1. She wore a sharp black dress, held the tray at a photographer-friendly angle, and delivered a confident smirk directly into the cameras as celebrities posed2.

The joke worked because Cuthbert was doing brand-ambassador work but reading the room like a pro, angling herself into shots of Idris Elba, Richard Madden, Constance Wu, Camilla Belle and Jim Carrey12. Fans quickly framed her as the actual winner of the night, giving her mock awards for Best Supporting Actress in every photo she appeared in1.

Origin & Background

Platform
Red carpet event / Twitter (viral spread)
Creator
Kelleth Cuthbert
Date
2019

The Fiji Water Girl moment happened on January 6th, 2019, during the red carpet arrivals for the 76th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, where Fiji Water was the official water sponsor1. Cuthbert was working as a first-time Fiji brand ambassador, hired to hand hydration to guests, when she began appearing in the background of press-line photos of major nominees1.

Fiji Water publicly identified her the next day in a statement to Page Six, joking that the award for "Best Supporting Actress in (literally) Every Picture" went to their Los Angeles-based model1. Before that reveal, her identity was the running mystery of the night, which only pushed the story further2.

How It Spread

The meme built in real time on Twitter as viewers spotted her turning up in shot after shot. BuzzFeed editor Jarett Wieselman tweeted that he had already written 200 pages of the Fiji Water girl's inner monologue, a joke that racked up more than 200 retweets during the ceremony3. User @wingardiumbrad compiled a thread of her best photobombs and called her "living her best life," pulling in over 1,000 retweets and 3,400 likes3.

Coverage jumped from Twitter to mainstream outlets within hours. Page Six ran the identity reveal on January 7th1, and Bustle framed her as awards season's first meme while Fiji's official account rode the moment for free promotion2. Huffington Post also covered the red carpet frenzy around her4. Fans began photoshopping Cuthbert into other celebrity photos and into the actual ceremony broadcast2.

An Instagram account devoted to jokes about her, @officialfijiwatergirl, picked up more than 420 followers in under 24 hours as the meme kept expanding overnight53. The Fiji Water Girl bit stuck around as awards-season shorthand for any background staffer who quietly upstages the stars.

How to Use This Meme

Fiji Water Girl typically works as a reaction reference for any moment where a background character steals the frame from the main subject. Common usage involves captioning event photos where a service worker, security guard, or bystander is caught mid-smirk behind a famous face, or crediting a small side character with winning a scene they were not supposed to be in.

Frequently Asked Questions