Keli Holiday has pulled out of his show at Sydney’s Royal Randwick racecourse after being accused of hypocrisy for agreeing to perform given his girlfriend Abbie Chatfield’s staunch disapproval of horse racing.
The Dancing2 hitmaker was set to perform after the last race at The Championships Day on April 4 in front of a crowd of racegoers.
However the Australian Turf Club announced on Wednesday that the gig would be cancelled after his management informed the venue of his decision to withdraw from the performance.
His 27-year-old partner has been vocal in her opposition to the racing industry, and in 2022 took to Instagram to call out celebrities for attending Derby Day at Flemington in Melbourne.
“Guys, I thought we were done with the races,” Chatfield said.
“I thought that wasn’t a thing anymore. Like, why are so many people going to the races? What the hell?”
The podcast host added she had received money in the past to attend race days but had turned down the offers.
“I was offered money to go. A lot of money,” she said.
“And I said f*** no.
“It’s so random, it’s so weird … It isn’t even fun.”
The ATC announced it had pulled the plug on the performance on Wednesday, just 24 hours after copping mass backlash when it revealed he would play.
“The Australian Turf Club (ATC) advises that the scheduled performance by Keli Holiday at The Championships Day 1 has been cancelled,” the statement read.
“Keli Holiday’s management has informed the ATC of his decision to withdraw from the performance. We will provide further event updates where necessary.
“We will provide further event updates where relevant.”
Prior to the backflip, an ATC spokesperson stood by the decision and told SkyNews.com.au that appointing Holiday was due to his “popularity with a young demographic”.
“He will bring new fans to the races,” the statement said.
Fans were quick to suggest Holiday wasn’t the only one behind the decision to cancel the event.
“Abbie didn’t want Keli Holiday performing at the races!” one said.
“Abbie Chatfield enters the chat!” another added.
While a third said: “I think Abby was embarrassed actually because they were caught being hypocrites.”
Following the announcement on Tuesday, fans were quick to highlight Chatfield’s past comments on horse racing.
“Abbie is massive nup to the cup. No way she knows about this. Old mate gonna tell her he is at a greens meeting,” one person wrote.
“Bloke must be in the doghouse or something,” another added.
“I’m quite sure his other half criticised horse racing only a few years back, anything for a buck these days hey,” a third said.
“Shows how hypocritical the anti-racing mob can be really?!” another still said.
Holiday has enjoyed major success in recent years, with his Dancing2 hit reaching number two on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2025.
The intimate love song was written for Chatfield with the lyrics drawing from their journey to finding each other and their shared life.
Raised in the nation’s capital, Holiday is one half of electronic music band Peking Duk, alongside Reuben Styles.
The band has won two ARIA awards, with their single High winning Best Dance Release in 2014 and Stranger claiming Single of the Year in 2017.
Last year, Peking Duk had 5.2 million listeners across 183 countries on Spotify.