Ellen Show Marriage Proposal Rejection

Poor Jacob Waterdale. He wrote a letter to the Ellen Show, declaring his love for his girlfriend, Jodie, and his desire to propose to her live on the show. How awkward for all of us when she rejects him... um, wait, why is the audience cheering? And what's with the jingling bells? Check out the confusing and painfully awkward clip after the jump.

Twitter started buzzing immediately with speculation-- was it real or a prank?

Toofab.com reports it was all a hoax to introduce Ellen's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway, and that Jacob is actually an Ellen staffer.... Am I the only one who doesn't get it? How is watching a dude get turned down a good lead into "Surprise, we're giving away stuff!"? Uhhh, Merry Christmas, your girlfriend doesn't want to marry you?

Ellen's YouTube page offers this confusing explanation:

Ellen had a surprise for a member of her audience with a proposal. It didn't seem to be going too well, but thankfully, it was the 12 Days of Giveaways! Watch our audience's reactions to all of the amazing prizes.

What do you think? "Wow you really got us there Ellen", or mostly just WTF?