Six-year-old girl dresses as a hot dog for her princess dance recital and becomes a global star

Too early to declare the Coolest Kid of 2016?

Not for the internet, which has fallen in love with little Ainsley Turner of North Carolina.

The 6-year-old takes dance lessons at Holly Springs School of Dance. Last month the school had a princess-themed recital.

All the little girls looked like Disney heroines, wearing lots of tulle and sparkles.

But not Ainsley.

She just wasn’t feeling the princess vibe. So she went rogue.

She wore a hot dog costume — mustard stripe and all.

“When I saw her walk up in that costume I thought it was so cute and funny and I loved it,” her dance teacher Sarah Nativi told ABC News.

She and Grayson Lamontagne, who also teaches at the school, tweeted Ainsley’s photo.

“I wanted to share the pictures, first of all because it was so innocent and cute, and also because I was so impressed with how confident a little girl could be with herself to just wear whatever she liked the best,” Lamontagne told Buzzfeed.

“Her parents and I agree that it’s a great message for young girls, and they are, as I can imagine, very proud of Ainsley.”

As the photos spread, Ainsley grew a global following through the Twitter hashtag #HotDogPrincess.

Comedy Central UK digitally added Ainsley in her hot dog costume into scenes from Disney movies replacing the traditional princesses.

The spotlight stunned her dad, Brandon Turner, who suddenly found himself the father of a viral superstar.

Turner told ABC11 in Raleigh that Ainsley has princess costumes at home but she wanted to be a hot dog that day.

“She just said she wanted to wear it because this is my favorite costume,” Turner said. “She wore the hot dog costume because she doesn’t care what people think.”

Plus, he added, “she just loves hot dogs!”

People didn’t know, though, what Ainsley was wearing underneath that puffy hot dog get-up.

“She wore a princess costume underneath it and said she was a princess on the inside,” Nativi told Buzzfeed.

Now Ainsley is a pint-sized symbol of self-confidence and moxie. Her new fans applaud her for being herself, and also credit the school and her parents for letting her be the hot dog.

She’s become such a star that the dance school let Ainsley open the school’s spring recital last week.

One guess to what she wore.

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 1:07 PM with the headline "Six-year-old girl dresses as a hot dog for her princess dance recital and becomes a global star."