The Virginia-born Irish dancer explains how posting a TikTok video on her mum’s advice led to an invitation to join the hit show’s 25th-anniversary cast
Morgan Bullock almost didn’t post the TikTok video that would change her life. “I just didn’t think it was that good,” she says. “I was making it for fun and I sent it to my mum and she was like, ‘You should post it.’” In the video shared in May last year, the Virginia-born Irish dancer performs to the Savage remix by Megan Thee Stallion and Beyoncé. Choreographing slick tap beats against the viral hip-hop track, it sent the internet into a frenzy. Despite the overwhelmingly positive response she received, the now 22-year-old’s online fame brought comments that as a black Irish dancer, she was guilty of “cultural appropriation”.
In response, Bullock tweeted a rebuttal that brought even more attention to the video – including an invitation to perform with Riverdance in her home state. But at the time she was unaware that her videos would also serve as an audition for her to become an official cast member. One morning before work, she received an email asking if she was interested in joining the 25th-anniversary tour of the show that ended prematurely in 2020 due to Covid. “I was of course like, ‘Yes, is that even a question?’” she laughs, speaking on Zoom during the UK tour. “I had to explain to my boss. I came into work with tears.”
