{"id":569902,"date":"2026-08-01T06:25:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T06:25:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/569902\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T06:25:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T06:25:16","slug":"its-ok-to-mess-around-how-mop-man-stole-the-show-at-glasgows-commonwealth-games-commonwealth-games","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/569902\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s OK to mess around\u2019: how \u2018mop man\u2019 stole the show at Glasgow\u2019s Commonwealth Games | Commonwealth Games"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2026 Commonwealth Games<\/a> in Glasgow have already provided plenty of highlights. But fans across the world have been dazzled by one particular breakout star: the \u201cmop man\u201d.<\/p>\n

When a cleaner came out at half-time during a netball match to wipe down the court before the restart, everything appeared normal. But as the cleaner swept, and the first bars of Queen\u2019s I Want to Break Free rang out in the venue, he went from sweeping to a standing split.<\/p>\n

A full dance routine set to the 1984 hit then followed, much to the surprise and delight of the audience at the OVO Hydro. The crowd watched him do the worm, splits and front handsprings. He has since entertained crowds during breaks in play at a number of other events and clips of his performances have gone viral online.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s Doris the mop now\u2019: CJ Miller isn\u2019t the only one to have been given a surprising nickname. Photograph: Andrew Milligan\/PA<\/p>\n

The man behind the mop is CJ Miller, 25, from Livingston, West Lothian, a trained dancer who was hired by the Games to keep crowds entertained during intermissions.<\/p>\n

He considers himself more of an introvert than his cleaning alter ego. \u201cI\u2019m an anxious and paranoid queen,\u201d said Miller. \u201cAnd I\u2019m so grateful for the turn of events. It\u2019s been a lovely 50 minutes of fame. I wish I\u2019d had a haircut before it happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller was initially told he would be part of a flashmob at the Games with other dancers. \u201cThen it was, \u2018oh, here\u2019s a mop. Here\u2019s the song.\u2019 It wasn\u2019t until the Tuesday before the Games I found out it was gonna be Boo Boo the Fool here, on his own,\u201d Miller laughed, pointing to himself.<\/p>\n

Freddie Mercury in Queen\u2019s video for I Want to Break Free, the song Miller dances to. Photograph: Queen<\/p>\n

When choreographing the routine, Miller was inspired by \u201cthe concept of a volunteer \u2026 a cleaner that had been possessed by the music and just exploded.\u201d<\/p>\n

But the character soon took on a life \u2013 and fanbase \u2013 of his own. \u201cPeople have messaged being like, \u2018Thank you for making me smile, I really needed that today.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

For Miller, the universal charm of his performance comes from \u201cthe sheer stupidity, the sheer bonkersness of it all\u201d. \u201cIt just made people feel like it\u2019s OK to mess around,\u201d he said. \u201cSometimes, people need to be reminded to just take a break. Just take a minute to smile at someone else being so bloody ridiculous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller\u2019s performance was soon picked up by broadcasters and newspapers around the world. There was particular praise for the unexpected chemistry with his dance partner: Doris the mop.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhil [Goodlad] from the BBC had named the mop Doris \u2013 so I didn\u2019t even name the bloody mop!\u201d said Miller. \u201cHe asked me, and I went: \u2018The mop is a mop, Phil.\u2019 And he was like: \u2018I think it looks like a Doris.\u2019 I went: \u2018Brilliant. It\u2019s Doris the mop now, Phil, spectacular.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Did he have a name in mind for his other dance partner, the vacuum? \u201cIt was a Vax vacuum, so I think the vacuum should be called Vaxtina \u2013 like Xtina. You can write that one down.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Going into the Games, Miller felt nervous about performing in front of a sports crowd for the first time. \u201cBasketball, for me, was a scary one. I was like: \u2018I don\u2019t think the basketball crowd are going to want to see my flamboyant ass, giving them a dance to Freddie Mercury. And I was wrong. The basketball crowd were incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Miller with his dance partner, Doris the mop. Photograph: Mark Pinder\/The Guardian<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a lesson for me to check my own prejudice,\u201d he said. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t excuse the point of view I had of sports fans, and that has been changed now from the immense support I\u2019ve received from the sports fans at the Commonwealth. Thank you for proving me wrong, sports fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Going forward, Miller is soon to join Newcastle College as a dance tutor and continue building his career as a choreographer. But will the world ever see more of mop man?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be fun,\u201d said Miller, who has been approached by one company about taking his performance further. \u201cIf I were to do it again, let\u2019s get some other professions in there,\u201d said Miller. \u201cReferee, waiter, bloody construction worker. Let\u2019s get inventive with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

While mop man\u2019s performances may have come to an end, Miller hopes viewers can be inspired by his character\u2019s self-confidence and sense of whimsy. \u201cBe messy, fail, screw up,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what makes us human. Get your mop and shake your ass, you know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow have already provided plenty of highlights. But fans across the world have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569903,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":["post-569902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569902\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}