Ellen gives new vanity – and cash – to TikTok star from NC who found secret apartment
.png "Samantha Hartsoe, who found a secret apartment hidden behind her bathroom mirror and documented the discovery in a series of viral TikToks, went on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to discuss what has happened since.")
A North Carolinian who racked up millions of views on TikTok after discovering an apartment hidden behind the bathroom mirror of her New York City apartment received some surprises on “The Ellen Degeneres Show” on Tuesday.
Samantha Hartsoe, who is originally from North Carolina, documented the eerie discovery in a series of four TikToks last week.
Many TikTok users speculated someone else might be living in the seemingly abandoned apartment on the other side of Hartsoe’s bathroom wall, but after squeezing through and exploring, she found it to be empty — save for some garbage bags and debris.
Like many who viewed Hartsoe’s TikToks, Ellen DeGeneres was left with some burning questions, which the two discussed — before later gifting the young woman a new bathroom vanity and some cash.
DeGeneres also expressed some concerns over Hartsoe’s safety during Tuesday’s interview.
“Have you secured the mirror so that someone can’t take it off from the other side and climb into your apartment?” DeGeneres asked.
Hartsoe said she hadn’t, eliciting laughter from the audience.
“Okay, well when we finish talking, you should do that,” DeGeneres said.
Hartsoe said her family has also been thrilled by her secret apartment saga, with her father sending her news articles reporting her story, “but my mom’s reaction is what kills me.”
“She was just in tears, so proud of me,” she said, joking that her career in nonprofit work never earned such a reaction.
“I literally, for a living, I work for the New York affiliate for a nonprofit called Boys Hope Girls Hope, and we take at-risk teens and give them a place to live, an education, we help them go to college and I literally spend my time raising money for us, like for the kids, but this is what my Mom is proud of,” Hartsoe said. “This is it for her.”
At the end of the interview, DeGeneres gifted a new bathroom vanity to Hartsoe — which also hid a secret. A show staff member walked up to the vanity on stage and pulled away the mirror to reveal $10,000.
“Your story was fantastic,” DeGeneres said, then added, “Seal that mirror.”