Australian Olympic breakdancing sensation Raygun has revealed advice she was given by Boy George and Sir Richard Branson after she broke the internet with her moves at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
After jumping like a kangaroo and sliding across the floor of La Place de la Concorde in Paris, Rachel ‘Raygun’ Gunn went viral online for her remarkable routine.
His moves left many divided. While she became a major target of criticism online, others were left baffled, while many, including Adele, praised the Australian cult heroine.
But the criticism from his detractors does not seem to have stopped Raygun. While she’s been interacting with celebrities, she also appeared on the cover of Stellar magazine last week and is now challenging her haters to see if they can out-dance her in an online competition. He has also attempted to trademark the Raygun moniker, but appears to have stumbled over that intellectual property deal.
In September, Raygun was seen meeting Branson and Boy George during a trip aboard a Virgin Voyages cruise in the Mediterranean.
While Raygun received a lot of criticism after the Olympics, he noted that Branson and Boy George received the same criticism and revealed that the pair had given him some advice on how to handle online hate.
“They said, ‘Don’t listen to those who hate you. Keep doing it. It means you’ve done something with an impact. You know, stay true to yourself and don’t let them get you down,” Raygun told the Fitzy and Wippa Podcast with Kate Ritchie.
He 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 (centre) posed for the camera alongside Boy George (left), with the British singer imitating his infamous kangaroo jump from the Olympics.
‘So it was really fantastic to see how they handled that. All that scrutiny. All that fame. Even how they manage to go out in public.
Raygun posted several photos of herself, Branson and Boy George laughing, smiling and enjoying a good time together, and captioned the post: “What a moment, what a vibe.”
Reflecting on what has been a whirlwind summer, Raygun reflected on when he realized he was going to go viral.
“I think it was that night,” he said, referring to the day of his first performance in Paris. “I remember coming off stage and talking to my media manager, and he said, ‘Oh, something’s brewing on the Internet.’
“At the time it was mostly about my uniform and I thought, ‘Oh, okay, maybe I won’t go on social media. And then when I walked in that night, I was like, “Oh, no, what’s going on.” ‘
He added that he has been disconnecting from social media and “barely connects to the Internet.”
“It just doesn’t help, because there’s a lot of hate out there,” he added on the podcast.
“But there’s also a lot of positivity and that’s what I really want to focus on.”
Since then, he admitted that he had received many requests to appear on reality television shows. The 36-year-old was asked if she would consider continuing with I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, but she quickly shut down that conversation and responded with a resounding ‘No.’
“There were a lot of requests for reality shows,” he said.
Raygun also talked about the advice Branson (right) and Boy George had given him after the Games.
Raygun has received heavy criticism online, but said he stopped checking 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 think appearing on a reality show is not the right decision,” he said while laughing.
Raygun added that he was looking forward to seeing many dancers from all types of disciplines, including tap and jazz, submit their dance routines to his challenge with finder.com.au.
In the clip she is seen striking her signature kangaroo pose before saying: “I hear some of you think you can do better,” she says, staring down the barrel of the camera preparing to dance.
‘Actually?’ —he adds in disbelief, cracking his knuckles.
He then proceeded to throw down the gauntlet and said, “Let’s find out.”