Launceston mayor Matthew Garwood meets Katy Perry

A lucky Tasmanian mayor has had the chance to meet Katy Perry at the AFL Grand Final. Here’s what he said about the chance encounter.

After a chance encounter with Katy Perry at the AFL Grand Final, Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood said that the adage “never meet your heroes” did not apply in this case.

“She was super down to earth,” Mr Garwood told the Mercury after meeting Perry.

“I thought that she might have been a bit reserved, but she was really comfortable and very approachable.”

Mr Garwood was at the game on Saturday after being invited over by the Hawthorn Football Club.

“We were sitting right behind the goals, and right behind us in the corporate box was Warwick Capper, Mick Gatto and some other AFL players as well,” he said.

“After halftime ended, I was walking past, and Katy Perry was in there.

“She just lent out the window – I was in my Launceston gear – and then I said ‘I’m from Tasmania’.”

Launceston Mayor Matthew Garwood with Katy Perry at the 2024 AFL Grand Final who he invited to visit Tasmania now that she is a Tassie Devils supporter. Picture: supplied

Prior to the grand final, Perry said, “I’m barracking for the new Tasmanian team coming in this year.”

This is despite the team not making the AFL decider and not being expected to enter the competition until the 2028 season.

Mr Garwood said he and Perry spoke about the new Tasmanian AFL team.

“I just said to her ‘why don’t you come down for the first game when they play?’ Which will probably be at UTAS Stadium at the moment because Mac Point will take a while to build.

“She jovially took it in her stride, of course.

“We got some photos and had quite a generous conversation through that little window there.”

Perry performed a medley of songs on the ground as part of the AFL Grand Final pre-match entertainment.

During the performance, she brought out Australian singer Tina Arena as a surprise guest.

The pair sang “I Kissed A Girl” before launching into a 90s house-inspired version of Arena’s signature song “Chains”.

Mr Garwood said he thought Perry’s performance was “awesome”.

“I love that she involved so many dancers and kids with the blow-up, little silver things. I liked that Tina Arena came up through the middle.

“It was a little bit odd that Tina Arena didn’t do much more than just half a song, but I thought that Katy Perry was awesome.

“She did all the songs that I expected; “Dark Horse” is one of my favourites, so for her to do that one was really cool.”

Mr Garwood also weighed into the debate about whether the pre-match entertainment before the AFL Grand Final should only feature Australian acts.

“I do appreciate that it would be a good opportunity for Australian bands to be on a big stage. But I loved that it was a huge international superstar.”