A woman who mistakenly said that Wales was in England on TikTok has arrived in Wales having been personally invited to visit by First Minister Mark Drakeford. Pavlina Sudrich, who has over 207,200 followers on the social media platform, comes from the remote city of Whitehorse in the northwest Canadian territory of Yukon.
The TikTok star is an avid hunter, with her videos often capturing life in one of the remotest places in North America. In a video that was posted last November, she demonstrated how she kept warm in the territory's cold weather but a slip-of-the-tongue led to her being criticised by many of her Welsh followers.
During the video, Pavlina talked about an item she had recently bought called a Cosymajig, which is a type of sling for a hot water bottle or heat pack. The product had been created in Wales. Pavlina said: "If you have ever been cold or someone you know gets cold, you need to stop and look at what I've discovered. It's called the Cosymajig, it's a wool hot water bottle harness so you can get on with winter life but with this secret weapon of warmth. I saw this online and ordered one immediately, they are handmade by a woman named Belinda in Wales, England".
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Naturally, followers were quick to correct Pavlina for her error, with some comparing it to mistakenly saying that Canada was in the USA and others encouraging her to buy a map to find that Wales was its own country and different to England. In another video posted soon after, Pavlina apologised to her Welsh followers and even went as far as saying her apology in Welsh.
In an office with a Canadian flag behind her and with the aid of Yukon's First Minister, Sandy Silver, she said: "Good morning and I am sorry to the people of Wales - the fine people of Wales. I would like to apologise for mistakenly referring to Wales as part of England. I've heard you."
She later added: "To your First Minister Mark Drakeford and anyone else at Tourism Wales, I really think you should invite me to Wales to experience first hand what your country has to offer. I think we would get along just great."
As a result, the Welsh First Minister did in fact respond to Pavlina's request. In a video posted by the Welsh Government, Mr Drakeford said: "Well Pavlina, diolch yn fawr - thank you very much indeed. So we are really keen to make sure all of you know just what a different place Wales is, just what it is we stand for and how keen we are for you to know more about us. And to do that, of course it would be fantastic if you could come here to Wales so we could show you all those things that are special about us and make us want to go on and have that very special relationship between Wales, the Yukon and the whole of Canada."
The error has turned into a positive journey for Pavlina. She has since met up with citizens of Yukon that have Welsh connections, she has learnt a few Welsh phrases such as 'bore da' and, as seen in her most recent video on TikTok, she has actually arrived in Wales and been to the BBC and Senedd, where she met Llywydd Elin Jones. We have reached out to Pavlina — so if you see this, drop Branwen a line on branwen.jones@walesonline.co.uk.
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