Known for conservative roots, the South is seeing the highest tickets sales of anywhere in the country for the steamy ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’ INSIDE EDITION has the scoop.
The South is red hot for Fifty Shades of Grey.
Just-released box office data from Fandango showed that Southerners are rushing to see the raunchy flick in record numbers.
Fandango correspondent Tara McNamara told INSIDE EDITION, "This is really shocking because these are the conservative states, the red states, the Bible belt and, so, no one expected that."
In West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama, theaters are packed.
"Mississippi sold more than four times what was expected to this movie. Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia, Arkansas - a lot of Southern and Midwestern states had high spikes in ticket sales," commented McNamara.
Hadley Hartz told INSIDE EDITION, "Don't be so surprised that it is so popular in the South, we have our needs too!"
Hartz starred on the reality show Southern Belles and admitted she was a little taken aback by the movie's popularity among Southerners.
She told INSIDE EDITION, "People are conservative and we're all very concerned about what everybody else is thinking. So, to go to a public place to watch basically soft porn - I didn't really think it would take here but it has and people love it!"
She also told INSIDE EDITION, "I know some people around town have even had Fifty Shades of Grey parties. They'll have a cocktail and then they'll go see the movie, you know, they've had fun with it."
Previously, INSIDE EDITION mentioned how another famous Southern belle, Jessica Simpson, posted provocative photos reenacting scenes from Fifty Shades with her husband. Well, today she posted one photo on Instagram revealing a bruise on her arm. Could it be they got a little carried away with their Fifty Shades of Grey role-play?
