A Britain’s Got Talent contestant’s past on a huge Netflix comedy series starring Kate Hudson has been unearthed.
Red Panda, whose real name is Rong Niu, competed on the ITV show this weekend with her unicycle balancing act and progressed to the next round after impressing judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli and special guest KSI.
Britain’s Got Talent fans, however, realised they recognised the performer from her cameo role in Running Point, which tells the story of reformed party girl Isla (Hudson), who finds herself running her family’s business – basketball team the Los Angeles Waves.
In the 10-part comedy produced by creators including Mindy Kaling and Elaine Ko, Red Panda unicycles onto a basketball court and balances bowls on her head as one of the halftime performers during a key match.
Netflix even shared a clip of her Running Point routine on TikTok, captioning the post: ‘If the halftime show doesn’t have Red Panda, I don’t want it #RunningPoint.’
In the comments section, viewers were in awe of Red Panda’s skill, with TJ Frank remarking: ‘Red Panda is a straight legend.’
Echoing their sentiment, Jo Dayne remarked: ‘I saw her at a Texas Tech game, she had the whole stadium crazy.’
Account They’re Eating The Dogs commented: ‘This is actually 100% real and she’s actually incredible.’
Brend added: ‘I’m watching this show to watch Red Panda’s performance, damn you Netflix.’
In its first week of release, the comedy scored 9,300,000 views, followed by 12,200,000 views in the second week. For the period of March 10 – 16, Netflix’s most recent statistics, it secured 6,000,000 views.
Running Point is not the only TV show Red Panda has appeared on before Britain’s Got Talent.
In 2013, she competed in the format’s US spin-off, America’s Got Talent, but left the show for personal reasons when her father was diagnosed with cancer.
Red Panda has also performed in multiple halftime appearances for the NBA.
Running Point has stormed the Netflix charts since its release at the end of last month.
To date, it has been viewed 27,500,000 times, according to the streamer’s own data.
Running Point is based on the real life of Jeanie Buss, who took over from her father as president of the Los Angeles Lakers.
Talking about her life being played out on screen, Buss shared: ‘There’s one scene where Ali, Brenda Song’s character, says, “You can’t blow this. It would set women back,” that really was the pressure I felt taking this job because it’s such a male-dominated field.
‘Not only am I trying to do well by myself, I’m carrying the hopes and dreams of all women in professional sports or the entertainment business. It’s hard enough to be successful, but with that kind of weight placed on you, it’s a scary task.’
She continued to Netflix Tudum: ‘I definitely put in my two cents about Kate early on. I just thought she would understand the character because she and I have known each other for so long. She has seen me operate, she knows sports, and she’s hilarious, talented, and beautiful.’
