Katy Perry received a surprising gift from none other than the Cronulla Sharks ahead of her Lifetimes Tour, which will kick off in Mexico City in April.
The pop icon was joined by Sharks stars Nicho Hynes and Kayal Iro during an interview for SiriusXM's Morning Mashup, who presented her with a signed jersey from the players.
Katy declared her allegiance to the Sydney team, after discussing how intense the sport can be. "Can I say, rugby is really primal," she gushed. "There was a gentleman who had his head stapled and played again. He's an icon."
Katy was referring to Michael De Vere, who was involved in a nasty clash during a State of Origin game in 2003. "You guys are bad [expletive]. You are the Sharks that I want to see."
The quip comes from her 2015 Super Bowl Halftime Show, which saw one of her dancers, known as the 'Left Shark', go viral for forgetting the choreography.
The mother of one was excited to receive the signed jersey, sharing that her support now lay with them. "Oh my God. Oh my gosh. I guess I rep the Sharks in Sydney now,’" she said, adding that she wanted to invite the players to her Australian shows in June.
She then asked if it "would be weird" if one of them donned the infamous Left Shark costume.
The team's CEO, Dino Mezzatesta, couldn't have been happier following the sweet interaction.
"She was kind enough to give us the time and to chat with us about the Sharks," he shared. "Katy said she will have to cheer for the Sharks now."
© InstagramThe "Firework" singer is no stranger to Australian sport, having performed at the AFL Grand Final in September 2024. She sang her greatest hits during the show, like "Roar", "Dark Horse", "California Gurls" and "Teenage Dream", to the cheering crowd.
The 39-year-old shared how excited she was to perform at the show in an interview on ABC News Breakfast. "That's what's going to be the most exciting [thing] to hear, 100,000 people singing all the songs at the top of their lungs," she said.
"I know that the performances for the show have just kind of started happening in the past few years, so I'm really excited to take it up a notch."
© via Getty ImagesKaty's meeting with the Sharks duo comes just days after Blue Origin announced the singer would be embarking on a space flight as part of an all-female crew.
Joining her will be journalist Gayle King, research scientist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee Amanda Nguyen, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and Jeff Bezos' fiancée, Lauren Sánchez.
As for how Katy's fiancé, Orlando Bloom, felt about the unexpected news, the brunette shared that he couldn't be more excited for her.
© Getty Images"We respect each other so much," she said on the Morning Mashup. "So we want to get input from each other, and he is also all about the journey."
"That's one thing, I really, really admire about him," she added. "He's a seeker."
"[I'm] going to space now to explore something way bigger than me and I'm just so interested in astrophysics and just the engineering of it all," she continued. "I'm just so humbled and blown away and excited and I've got butterflies."
