Rachael ‘Raygun’ Gunn has opted for some fast-food therapy with a visit to KFC as she comes to grips with losing the university job she’s had for almost 20 years.
The Daily Mail snapped exclusive photos of Raygun as she broke cover for the first time since the news emerged that she’d accepted a voluntary redundancy from Macquarie University because she could see ‘the writing on the wall’.
Gunn and her husband Samuel Free were snapped getting a bite at a Dirty Bird drive-through in Sydney’s inner west on Thursday, just hours after her new website went live in the wake of her job loss.
The Olympic breakdancing viral sensation couldn’t wait to dig into a piece of the famous chicken as Free drove away from the restaurant, with the couple spotted driving to Channel 10 afterwards.
Gunn broke her silence about her shattering career blow on Wednesday night and said her departure from the university – which is reportedly part of a wave of redundancies at the institution – points to a larger problem in Australia.
‘We need to have a serious conversation about higher education in this country,’ she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Rachael Gunn is pictured getting over the shock loss of her university job with a bit of KFC accompanied by her husband Samuel on Thursday
The couple hit the Dirty Bird drive-through in Sydney’s inner west a day after her big career setback went public
Despite parting ways with Macquarie University, Gunn was in a good mood as she waved at the Daily Mail’s photographer
Gunn added that she is troubled by the experience being provided to Aussie uni students, the hazards facing staff and the level of spending on executive pay, consultants and infrastructure in tertiary education.
‘I’m very worried for my colleagues. I don’t think that things are getting better for them,’ she said.
The 38-year-old has confirmed that she accepted the voluntary redundancy in February after first attending Macquarie when she was 18 years old.
Gunn, who has a bachelor of arts with honours, completed the thesis for her PhD on the gender politics of Sydney’s breakdancing culture in 2017.
She has written publications including ‘Nocturnal Paradox: How Breakdancing Reveals the Potentials of the Night’ and ‘Negotiating and Challenging Gender Assumptions in Sydney’s Breakdancing Scene’.
Many Aussies were left fuming when they discovered she received taxpayer funding to study the dance form.
Queensland Senator Gerard Rennick quoted Raygun’s official Macquarie University profile in a Facebook post after she went viral and wrote, ‘In the same way breakdancing doesn’t belong in the Olympics it’s fair to say taxpayers shouldn’t be subsidising Universities to study or teach it.’
Senator Rennick’s post attracted thousands of comments slamming the university – and other tertiary institutions – for wasting taxpayer money on frivolous studies.
The 38-year-old has just debuted her new official website, through which she can be booked for jobs as a ‘speaker, host and conversation starter’
Gunn (pictured with Samuel Free) revealed she is deeply worried about the state of higher education in Australia as she broke her silence on her exit from Macquarie University
Gunn became a viral sensation thanks to her routine at the 2024 Paris Olympics
While Gunn’s specifics had not been made public at the time, PhD students like the breakdancer can get up to $56,000 a year in tax-free government funding.
That includes living stipends of up to $35,000 a year, plus an additional top-up scholarship of approximately $21,000 a year.
Raygun debuted her official website on Wednesday night, just hours after the news of her career setback became public.
On it, she describes herself as a ‘speaker, host, conversation starter’ who is available for events, brand collaborations and interviews.
‘Planning an event, workshop or collaboration? Rachael is available in-person or virtually, across Australia and internationally,’ the site states.
She also details some of the non-university work she’s been doing, including appearing at an education fundraiser, being a keynote speaker at an International Women’s Day function, a backyard cricket fundraiser for Lifeline, and performing at a Tones And I concert.
