Leno Gas Station Prank Fake? Was The Loveable Couple Acting?

A California couple became Internet sensations after they appeared in a video prank by Jay Leno. Will and Monifa Sims pulled up to a gas station to fill their car when suddenly the gas pump television started talking to Will. In the prank the fake anchor asked Will to perform a song in order to win free gas.

Will did and was awesome. After some coaxing his wife got out the car, she also nailed her performance. The video was a hit on YouTube. Millions of people watched the couple sing, dance and perform for the fake news show.

Now reports are circulating that entire prank was staged. According to The Smoking Gun, Jay Leno and the producers not only knew Monifa had appeared in another segment of "Pumpcast News" but picked the couple to do the prank.

After the karaoke video of the couple, Leno brought them on his show. Leno introduced Will as a bartender and Monifa as a fitness trainer. The Smoking Gun is reporting that both are trained actors. Monifa, also known as Monifa Days, reportedly won a nationwide contest in 2005 by TNT.

The "Tonight Show" never bothered to mention that Monifa appeared in a "Pumpcast News" segment more than two years ago or that the two are actors. The couple are not denying that Monifa was in a previous segment of the fake news show, but insist the video wasn't staged but a fluke.

Will told the Chicago Sun Times that producers purposely omitted the information because they did not want "to think we were actors and it was a plant" Will told the paper.

In an interview with The Smoking Gun, Monifa said she couldn't believe she had appeared on the segment for a second time.

"When it happened again, I said, 'I cannot believe it!' This really is a one-in-a-million chance," Sims said. "Well, perhaps two in a million."

In the original segment, Sims is seen at the same gas station where she was filmed singing with her husband. In the first segment, Monifa was asked by the fake anchor to run around the gas pump island in 15 seconds for a chance to win free gas.