Fans were notified of the cancellation on Monday via a brief email from the Universal Music Group. The email did not contain any information regarding potential refunds of merchandise.

Ruby said she was planning to drive to Sydney from Melbourne and had booked accommodation that allowed free cancellation within 24 hours and therefore didn’t lose any money. However, not every fan was as fortunate.

“I bought like seven copies of Guts, hotel [bookings] and plane tickets just in the hopes of seeing her,” wrote one fan on X. “I was convinced I was meeting her because there were so many chances, but they just ripped that away from us.”

Others expressed frustration over the lack of information provided when told the promotional tour was no longer going ahead. “The Universal Music Group email was so short and pathetic. It really was like ‘wait never mind, she can’t come, scratch that, cya bye’,” another fan wrote on X.

Some fans remained understanding – convinced Rodrigo would not have cancelled unless it were necessary.

“It is what it is,” Ruby said. “I can’t imagine Olivia and her team would have cancelled if they had [thought of] another way. I feel sorry for those who did buy extra items to get more entries, but for me, supporting Olivia by buying vinyl or merch was always my intention before the competition was even announced. Anything else was just a bonus.”

Ruby said the email notifying her of the cancellation gave her hope that Rodrigo would soon announce Australian dates for her Guts world tour next year. So far, the pop star has only confirmed the tour’s European, UK and North American legs.

“Seeing the ‘she’s so excited to see her Australian Livies in 2024’ part in the announcement made me feel better,” Ruby said.

Rodrigo, a former Disney star who featured in Bizaardvark and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, shot to global fame after the release of her debut album, Sour, in 2021.

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Sour spent eight non-consecutive weeks at number one on the ARIA albums chart that year.

Following the promotional tour’s initial announcement earlier this month, Rodrigo expressed her excitement about getting to visit a different part of the world.

“I can’t wait to get down to Australia,” she said in a press release at the time. “I’ve never been and I’m so excited to meet everyone. I’ll see you soon Livies!”