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Ryan Seacrest

Ryan Seacrest

Ryan is quite simply one of the most influential, well-regarded, and well-known names in Hollywood. He is the quintessential Hollywood insider who...Full Bio

 

Katy Perry’s Left Shark Finally Explains Those Viral Super Bowl Moves

Never forget Super Bowl XLIX when the left shark from Katy Perry’s halftime performance stole the show and left the internet with a forever meme. 

Fast-forward three years later and backup dancer Bryan Gaw (aka left shark forever) is finally dishing about the viral performance that resulted in him appearing to deviate from right shark and the choreographed routine. 

According to Gaw though, he didn’t mess up. 

“So there’s a set choreography,” he told NPR in a new interview published Wednesday, January 31. “There’s also what’s called freestyle choreography, or, like, you get to move around or play your character as a dancer.”

The backup dancer, who has worked with Perry for years, told NPR that he “totally” goofed off on purpose. 

“I’m in a 7-foot blue shark costume. There’s no cool in that,” he said. “So what’s the other option? Well, I’m gonna play a different character.”

Choreographer RJ Durell also spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about the moment and confirmed the goofiness was planned. 

“The sharks were given two main objectives. One, perform Katy’s trademark moves to the ‘Teenage Dream’ chorus, which they both did perfectly; and two, to have loads of fun, and bring to life these characters in a cartoon manner, giving them a Tweedledee/Tweedledum-type persona,” he said at the time. “Clearly, that was portrayed with the overzealous shark on the right hitting precise dance moves, while the left shark was playing up the more goofy, fun-spirited sports-fan mascot type, who was just happy to be at the Super Bowl.”

#LeftShark forever. The New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles will face off at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII, which airs on NBC on Sunday, February 4, at 3:30 p.m. PT.