Model laughs off fall into runway hole

NEW YORK - Fashionistas from Naomi Campbell to Carrie Bradshaw have made embarrassing missteps on the catwalk. But model Sarah Welch trumped them all when she fell through a hole during an L.A. Fashion Week show.

A video of Welch's dramatic drop — a sensation on YouTube — shows her walking the runway at last week's presentation of the fashion line Shadang. She stares blankly ahead, not noticing the gaping hole left where a martial arts performer had cracked open the floor with a flip.

"As a runway model, you have to keep your head up, you know," Welch, a former contestant on "The Bachelor" reality series, told KABC-TV. "So I didn't look down for a hole, particularly."

Then came the plunge. In the video, the crowd is heard howling with apparent shock. Welch, waist-deep in the hole, struggles to lift herself out, and is helped by "Heroes" actor Jimmy Jean-Louis, who modeled at the event. She regains her footing and exits stage left, raising her fist to seemingly signal that she's OK.

The video of the tumble, posted Thursday, had more than 1 million views on YouTube by Monday afternoon.

Welch, now an Internet celebrity, has a good sense of humor about it.

"It is just a really funny mishap. And I hope they're enjoying watching it just as much as I am," she said.

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On the Net:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?veQFgNApZsUY

(This version CORRECTS spelling to Welch .)

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