Sophie Ellis-Bextor responds to the BBC not showing her Glastonbury set

Sophie Ellis-Bextor has spoken to NME about the online furore of her Glastonbury 2023 set not being televised or streamed online.

– READ MORE: Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the return of ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ – and watching ‘Saltburn’ with her mum

The UK pop icon, who is currently enjoying resurgent global success with her classic single ‘Murder On The Dancefloor‘ due to it featuring in the movie Saltburn, played to a huge crowd on the closing day of Glasto back in June – proving to be a highlight of the weekend.

However, she found herself trending on Twitter/X as fans soon took to social media to voice their anger at her set not being televised or livestreamed by the BBC.

For Ellis-Bextor, however, she said she paid little mind to being broadcast as she was simply enjoying “a really magical moment”.

“With Glastonbury, I really tried not to think too much about that,” she told NME this week. “The reason why I was excited for the Pyramid had nothing to do with TV coverage and it was all about what the significance was of that stage and that festival.

“It was really special – a blue sky, golden day, everything was beautiful, it was about four people in my band’s birthday. We did the gig then went on the rampage and I finished the day at about 2.45am in the dance field then I got the bus home and did the school run the next morning at 8am, with all my make-up and wristbands still on!”

One of my favourite days ever.. 🥰 Thank you @glastonbury for sending me the footage 🙏🏻 And for any new followers who have discovered me recently through this song, yes this is the mad woman who sings it. 💃 pic.twitter.com/vYhHoPBM7Q

— Sophie Ellis-Bextor (@SophieEB) January 11, 2024

Ellis-Bextor shared the above footage for the first time this week, hailing it as “one of her favourite days ever”.

“My whole thing really has been trying to enjoy everything in the moment as much as possible,” she continued. “Certainly when you start out you’re thinking about one thing leading to another, but I don’t know if that’s a very happy headspace, really – because you’re always thinking one step ahead and then there’s a lot of chatter in the peripheral about everything. I don’t really want to do that anymore.

“I don’t want to analyse anything; I just want to enjoy things and jump on the momentum and have as much fun as possible.”

Speaking of momentum, the pop veteran and podcast host has been swept up in her 2001 single ‘Murder On The Dancefloor’ making waves in the US for the first time. The song has found a new audience after soundtracking an already infamous nude scene in the 2023 hit film Saltburn, and is currently at set to re-enter the top 10 in the UK as well as breaking into the Billboard 100 in the US for the first time.

Speaking to NME, the singer explained her shock after having “nothing at all” in terms of awareness or success in America until now.

“That’s what’s been quite extraordinary. To them it’s a new song, and that’s bonkers,” she said. “It didn’t do anything there the first time around, and I’m fine with that. If I’ve learned anything along the way it’s that you’ve got to go where the momentum is.”

She also spoke to NME about how she came to be involved in Saltburn, and was always on board with soundtracking the NSFW finale scene that sees lead Barry Keoghan dancing naked around the titular house, as well as watching the film for the first time with her mother and teenage son. Read the rest of the interview here.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor will be embarking on a European headline tour in March, before supporting Nile Rodgers and Chic on a UK and Ireland tour June and July before joining The Human League on the road at the end of the year. Visit here for tickets and more information.