The woman who became an internet sensation thanks to her striking resemblance to Ted Cruz can be named as 21-year-old Searcy Hayes - but she says she has no idea who he is.

Hayes, a mother-of-one from Vicksburg, Mississippi, sparked a social media frenzy after a still from her appearance on the Maury Povich show was posted on Reddit.

Now she has come forward and told Maury that she had never heard of Cruz until ater she appeared on his show - and that she wants a DNA test to make sure she is not related to the would-be president.

Hayes went on the show, which was broadcast on Monday, because her partner feared she had been unfaithful - but she passed lie-detector tests and DNA results showed her child was his.

She told Maury in a short video broadcast on the show's Facebook page: 'I had never heard of Ted Cruz.

'The only word I have ever heard of was Donald Trump.'

The screen grab of a woman (pictured) who resembles Republican presidential candidate Cruz was posted online by a Reddit user. Her identity can be disclosed by Daily Mail Online

Quite a similarity: Searcy Hayes's look is clearly more than just a passing trick of the camera from when she appeared on Maury

Big reveal: Searcy returned to Maury today to meet the host and explain the impact being told she looks like Ted Cruz has had

No idea: She told Maury she did not know who Ted Cruz was until she had been on the show

Looks a bit familiar: Searcy Hayes is not a registered Republican or Democrat. Her political views remain unclear

Asked by Povich if she could be in any way related to Cruz, such as as his sister, she said: 'Not that I know of.'

And she denied that the picture of her looked like him.

'The eyes are different,' she said as she pointed at photographs of them side by side.

'He has got a bigger nose than me. Nothing on there looks the same.'

And as for her voting intention, she appeared unlikely to turn to Cruz, saying she had never heard the terms Democrat and Republican.

'I am not going to stick my neck out there if you don't know me,' she said - although Maury did offer to arrange a meeting with Cruz.

Hayes had appeared on the Povich show in a segment entitled '5 Men Tested - Will I Find Out My Daughter's Father Today?' on Monday.

She and her boyfriend took part in a DNA test to see whether he was indeed the father of her baby son Jayden Tyler Green - with Hayes later posting news of the positive result on Facebook.

Her boyfriend, Freddie Nathan Green Jr, is also an active social media user and has a Facebook profile littered with pictures of Hayes and their son.

The young couple, who both hail from Mississippi, have lived in the small Louisiana town of Vidalia and now live across the river in Natchez, Mississppi.

On the show: Searcy had DNA tests for her baby, which showed that she hadn't lied about paternity

Social media hit: The show joined in the fun - and is to offer a catch-up later

Announcement: Hayes is to appear on a catch-up with Maury after becoming a surprise internet hit

Star of the show: Her apparent resemblance to the second-placed Republican presidential candidate has made Searcy Hughes as internet sensation

Family: Hayes and her partner Freddie Green. He is not the man she appeared with on Maury

Others said the woman could be Cruz's long lost sister after her appearance on the Maury Show

Twitter user Abdul tweeted that the woman 'looks like Ted Cruz in drag'

However, although Green also appeared on Maury, it is Hayes who emerged as the undisputed star of the show thanks to her striking resemblance to the Republican presidential candidate.

The Maury show also joined in the fun, posting a snap of Hayes on its official Instagram page captioned: 'Ted Cruz @tedcruzforpresident in drag on Maury?

'The Lie Detector Test determined...that was a LIE! Ted's NOT that SEXY! #PrimaryDay #Maury'

Povich also commented on the frenzy sparked by Hayes' appearance on a Facebook Live video on Wednesday in which he spoke of his amazement at the 'millions of views' generated by the Cruz doppelgänger.

'Hello everyone,' he said. 'Talk about going viral. Millions of views across I can't tell you how many sites.

'You see the connection? You see the similarity [between Hayes and Cruz]? Well guess what? He won't be appearing tomorrow but she will, so everybody check your Facebook pages.'

Home: This is where Hayes and her partner lived in Louisiana until recently. They have now moved back to Louisiana

Twitter users also responded to Hayes' appearance on the show with quips about her resemblance to Cruz, with one, a man named Abdul, saying: 'Why this looks just like Ted Cruz in drag!'

Another, Julia Vitale, added: 'Was Ted Cruz on the Maury Povich Show yesterday?'

Cruz himself is yet to comment on his newfound 'sister' and has instead remained quiet on the subject.

He is currently in Maryland where he is campaigning ahead of next week's round of primary votes - having left New York on Monday before the count in that state's primary had even begun.