Dua Lipa Surprises 80-Year-Old Superfan Papa Richy Live on ‘Tonight Show’

Dua Lipa is showing her appreciation for 80-year-old superfan Papa Richy. After going viral on TikTok for his response to his family’s gift of Future Nostalgia concert tour tickets, Papa Richy got an even bigger surprise when he got to meet the “Levitating” artist during Thursday’s episode of The Tonight Show. Tricked by host Jimmy Fallon into thinking he would be featured on a radio show, Papa Richy couldn’t believe what was happening when he realized he would be able to fulfill his dream of dancing with the pop star.

As Lipa and Papa Richy got to hold hands and dance on stage, the superfan told her just how much he loved her green outfit and recalled seeing her for the first time in Miami before Fallon shut down the playful flirtations. “I got to dance with Dua!” Papa Richy shouted to the audience as he made his exit. Papa Richy’s granddaughter, Kadie Bernstein, first went viral when she surprised her grandpa with concert tickets for his 80th birthday, writing alongside the October TikTok, “@Dua Lipa your oldest fan!!” 

Lipa shared the same clip on her TikTok at the time, telling Fallon, “It’s just such a good video. It made me so happy.” The “Future Nostalgia” singer also opened up to Fallon about how she’s reclaimed a viral video of her dancing at a concert in 2017 and turned it into a part of her current tour. Having been called “lazy” and “uninspired” for the dance, Lipa joked the original dance looked like she was putting on her shoe in a hurry.

While Fallon wondered why people were “so mean” about the moment, Lipa said she doesn’t have any hard feelings about the criticism. “The reason we’re talking about it is because I’ve brought it back, I’m doing it on my tour – I’m reclaiming it,” she said. “There was a moment where it actually caused me a lot of grief, like I was being bullied online, it wasn’t very nice. But now I can look at it from a different perspective. I look back at it with such fondness cause it helped me grow into the artist that I wanted to become, it made me work harder.”