Australian Olympic breakdancing sensation Raygun has lifted the lid on some advice Boy George and Sir Richard Branson gave her after she broke the internet with her moves at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
After hopping around like a kangaroo and gliding across the floor of La Place de la Concorde in Paris, Rachel ‘Raygun’ Gunn went viral online for her remarkable routine.
Her moves left many divided. Although she became a major target of criticism online, others were left baffled as many, including Adele, praised the Australian cult hero.
But criticism from her opponents does not seem to have stopped Raygun. While mingling with A-listers, she also graced the cover of Stellar Magazine last week and is now challenging her haters to see if they can dance better than her in an online competition. She has also tried to trademark the Raygun moniker, but appears to have hit a stumbling block over that intellectual property arrangement.
In September, Raygun met Branson and Boy George while traveling aboard a Virgin Voyages cruise ship in the Mediterranean.
Although Raygun has received a lot of criticism following the Olympics, she noted that Branson and Boy George have faced the same criticism and revealed that the pair had given her some advice on how to deal with online hate.
“They said, ‘Don’t listen to the haters. Just keep busy. It means you’ve done something impactful. You know, just stay true to yourself and don’t let yourself be brought down,'” Raygun told the Fitzy & Wippa with Kate Ritchie podcast.
She added: “They’ve both been under so much scrutiny, they’ve been famous for so long.
Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn (left) recently shared a behind-the-scenes look at her meeting with Boy George and billionaire Sir Richard Branson (right) over the weekend
Raygun (center) posed for the camera next to Boy George (left) as the British singer recreated her infamous kangaroo hop from the Olympics
‘So it was very nice to see how they dealt with that. All that surveillance. All that fame. How they deal with going out in public, even.”
Raygun posted several photos of himself, Branson and Boy George smiling, laughing and enjoying a good time together, captioning the post: “What a time, what an atmosphere.”
Reflecting on what had been a whirlwind summer, Raygun thought back to the moment she realized she was going viral.
“I think it was that night,” she said, referring to the day of her first performance in Paris. “I remember coming off stage and talking to my media manager, and he said, ‘Ah, there’s something brewing on the Internet.’
‘At the time it was mostly about my uniform and I thought, “Ah okay, maybe I won’t go on social media.”
She added that she has disconnected from social media and “barely goes on the internet.
“It just doesn’t help because there’s a lot of hate,” she added on the podcast.
‘But there is also a lot of positivity and I really want to focus on that.’
Since then, she admitted that she has received many requests to appear on reality TV shows. The 36-year-old was pressed on whether she would consider continuing with I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, but quickly shut down that conversation, responding with a flat “No.”
“There were a lot of reality TV requests,” she said.
Raygun also spoke about the advice Branson (right) and Boy George gave her after the Games
Raygun has received heavy criticism online, but said she no longer looks at social media
‘As someone who went viral for his performance at the Olympics, I think I have a very ‘memeable’ face. It’s very expressive, and I just don’t think it’s the right move to be on reality TV,” she said, laughing.
Raygun added that she was looking forward to seeing many dancers from a range of disciplines, including tap and jazz, submitting their dance routines to her challenge with finder.com.au.
In the clip, we see her strike her signature kangaroo pose before saying, “I heard some of you think you can do better,” she says, as she stares down the barrel of the camera and prepares to to dance.
‘Real?’ she adds incredulously, cracking her knuckles.
Then she threw down the gauntlet and said, “Let’s find out.”