BBC Radio 2's Sophie Ellis-Bextor makes surprise cameo at Royel Otis' Reading Festival gig

Royel Otis left fans gobsmacked at Reading Festival as they brought out a huge guest during their performance. The Aussie duo consisting of Royel Maddell and Otis Pavlovic have been taking the music industry by storm over the past two years with their indie pop tunes.

But their cover of Sophie Ellis-Bextor’s global hit, Murder On The Dancefloor saw them amass a huge number of new followers. While playing the Main Stage at Reading, the band brought out the Queen of Pop as they performed the iconic song together, which they first covered in January 2024.

Frontman Otis said: “We’ve got a special guest to bring out. It’s called Murder on the Dancefloor and Sophie Ellis-Bextor is here to join us which is pretty crazy,” Otis told the crowd as Sophie walked out to huge cheers.

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Meanwhile, Sophie told the crowd: “It’s good to be back, it’s been a few years, I don’t think any of you were born when I was last here… You’re looking good though.”

Their unexpected performance went down a huge treat with fans. “Amazing,” said one. While Natasha Bedingfield exclaimed: “Perfection.” A second went on to add: “Legendary!”

The duo, who this year have already performed at Glastonbury and Lollapalooza also performed tracks, including Moody and Car from their second album, Hickey, which was released earlier this week.

It comes after the band opened up about their decision to keep Murder on the Dancefloor on their setlist for the foreseeable future.

Speaking to NME, Otis said: “At the moment, yes, because if I go to see a band, I wanna see the songs that [I know].

“They’re the ones that people want to hear, and if other ones take over, they can have the foot up.”

Royel added: “It’s so hard, because Murder gets everyone hyped and Linger gets everyone singing along, which makes us feel better.” Headliners over the weekend include Chappell, Bring Me, Hozier and Travis Scott.

They are joined by the likes of AJ Tracey, Songer, Becky Hill, Trippie Redd, Enter Shikari, The Kooks, Rudim3ntal, Lancey Foux, Sea Girls, Bloc Party, Soft Play, The Dare, Mannequin Pussy, DJ Ez, Leigh-Anne, Royel Otis and many more.

Consistently pushing boundaries, Reading & Leeds bagged the Innovation Award at the UK Festival Awards 2024 for the groundbreaking Chevron Stage. Redefining what's possible for an open-air venue of this magnitude with unprecedented immersive lighting and stage design, The Chevron Stage heralds a new chapter for Reading & Leeds.

Reading and Leeds Festival takes place Thursday 21st - Sunday 24th August 2025 at Richfield Avenue in Reading and Bramham Park in Leeds.

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