The man who ran across the field of the Super Bowl wearing a hot pink bathing suit before being tackled by security guards called the stunt “the greatest moment of my life.”
Vitaly Zdorovetskiy and Yuri Andrade sat down with multiple news outlets in Florida to recount what happened at the big game.
Zdorovetskiy said the pair planned it all a week ago while returning to the U.S. on a 15-hour flight from Dubai, The Tampa Bay Times reported.
Andrade said they needed two people, one being a decoy to make it work. They also needed a map of the stadium and tickets to the game.
The stunt isn’t anything new for Zdorovestskiy as he runs a YouTube channel with 10 million subscribers where he shows pranks and stunts at sporting events.
He’s been seen at the 2014 World Cup final, the 2016 NBA finals and the 2017 World Series. He’s also climbed the “D” at the Hollywood sign and even climbed an Egyptian pyramid.
Despite being arrested and even serving jail time for the pyramid prank, Zdorovestskiy makes money on the viral videos and posts, claiming to have a net worth of $7 million, the Times reported.
He’s tried to get on the field at prior Super Bowls but each time he was stopped before setting foot on the gridiron.
That’s where Andrade comes in, along with another friend to pose as a decoy, WPEC reported.
Douglas Schaffer was paid $5,000 to distract security which allowed Andrade to run across the field on live television, the Times and WPEC reported.
Andrade told his mother of the stunt before the game and she tried to talk him out of it.
Zdorovetskiy and Andrara also allegedly put a bet down that someone would streak at the Super Bowl. The odds were +750 and the stunt could have netted Andrade about $375,000, NJ.com reported.
However, not all believe that the bet was actually made. Snopes.com, an online debunking site, called the claim unproven, saying that, “No book in their right mind would take$50K limits on that. Nowhere close.” Snopes said the status could be changed if someone came forward with the receipts of the bet.
Andrade and Schaffer were both arrested after the prank and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. They face a $500 fine each, the Times reported.
Andrade has been banned from Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium but told WPEC that it doesn’t matter because he’s a Dolphin’s fan.
Click here to read more from Andrade’s interview with WPEC and here to read The Tampa Bay Times.