An Adelaide businessman and lobbyist has gone viral on social media after performing the worm dance in front of Rita Ora, who later posted to her 16 million followers that she needed "to find this man".
Ian Smith, the husband of former Democrats leader Natasha Stott Despoja, was in New York last week for the Prince's Trust Gala dinner, where the British pop star was performing.
Surrounded by Hollywood A-listers including Kate Beckinsale, Sienna Miller and Kate Moss, the 57-year-old busted out the move on the dance floor, hurling himself onto the floor in front of the stage and performing the distinctive rippling move.
Also present were former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and former foreign minister Julie Bishop, who "looked on with some incredulity", Mr Smith said.
A video of the moment was later posted by Ora to her Instagram and TikTok accounts, with the star writing "this man made" her night.
"Are you kidding? Yes! Everyone do this," Ora said in the video.
"Find him, find this man. I need him at every show, I need you in my life."
Mr Smith today told ABC Radio Adelaide's Stacey Lee and Nikolai Beilharz he later met Ora, whom he described as "utterly charming".
"We were staying in the same part of town, coincidentally — Natasha sort of saw her and said, 'My husband is the worm guy'," he said.
"She was just wonderful and she did say could I do the dance at her concert in the future, so who knows where this might lead?"
Mr Smith joked he was going to "give up political advisory lobbying".
"I've left Adelaide for the big time now ... the worm goes global," he said.
Mr Smith said he was no novice when it came to the worm, having performed the move several times over the past four decades.
"I once did it in front of the Victorian cabinet when I was working for Jeff Kennett, so this dance has been out a few times and … it does take a degree of, I suppose, 'idiocy' is probably the best term," he said.
"When Rita Ora put this on her Instagram ... it sort of dawned on me that at long last ... after about 40-odd years of doing this dance, that someone finally appreciated it."
Ms Bishop later posted an image to her Instagram account of herself and Mr Smith with Ora, thanking the star for her support of the charity event.
Ms Stott Despoja also posted to Twitter, welcoming Ora "to her world".
The Prince's Trust is a charity founded in the United Kingdom by then-Prince Charles, in 1976, following his retirement from the Navy.
"One of his great passions ... is environment, sustainable communities etc, and he's supporting the rebuild of the Stokes Bay Community Hall in Kangaroo Island following the devastating bushfires," Mr Smith said.
"Obviously he's got a big week coming up, but his charitable work is exceptional.
"For all the fun and mirth of dancing in front of those people, it was a really important night."
