As The Wiggles celebrate their 30th anniversary, their evolution continues as they make three announcements.
ONE: The world’s most popular children’s group has revealed that Tsehay Hawkins is set to become the new Yellow Wiggle when Emma Watkins departs the group at the end of this year, after nine years of performing in the yellow skivvy as the first-ever female Wiggle.
TWO: The Wiggles are returning to stages across Australia from February 2022 with a new Fruit Salad TV Big Show arena tour.
THREE: The OG Wiggles will be embarking on an over-18 arena tour across the country.
The Wiggles farewell Emma
Emma Watkins has made the decision to hang up her yellow bow at the end of the year. Emma explained, “After 11 years of performing with The Wiggles, and nine of those as the Yellow Wiggle, the time has come for me to pass the yellow skivvy on.
“Like many people around the world, the pandemic has given me time to reflect on what is important in life. For me, that means spending more time at home, something that I didn’t realise I was missing out on being away eight months of the year on tour, but something that I have really cherished over the last 18 months.
“I am also really looking forward to devoting more time and energy on completing my PhD that incorporates my ongoing passion for sign language, dance and film editing, and to having more time to work with the Deaf community.
“I am eternally grateful to The Wiggles for giving me the amazing opportunity to be the first female Wiggle, a role that I have loved and one that has brought me so much joy and an abundance of bowtiful memories that I will treasure forever.
“As The Wiggles continue to evolve and someone new now steps into the yellow skivvy, I look forward to seeing children and families embrace them, just as I was when I began. I wish The Wiggles much continued success as they continue to delight children all over the world.”
On behalf of The Wiggles, founding member Anthony Field said, “Emma first began performing with The Wiggles 11 years ago, when she was cast as Fairy Larissa in our Dorothy the Dinosaur concerts and videos. She went on to play other roles including Wags the Dog, Dorothy the Dinosaur, and as a Wiggly dancer. Then in 2013, Greg famously handed over the yellow skivvy to Emma, making her the first female Wiggle.
“We’ve had an amazing time with Emma over this period and while we’re sad to see her go, we know she has many other passions she’d like to pursue, including her PhD and work with the Deaf community.
“We thank Emma for her wonderful contribution to The Wiggles and wish her all the very best as we look forward to seeing her continued success with her other interests.”
Tsehay Hawkins with Dorothy, Wags and Henry
Welcome to the new Yellow Wiggle
With Emma deciding to spend more time at home and devote more time and energy to her other passions, Tsehay Hawkins has stepped up to become the newest Yellow Wiggle.
Tsehay (pronounced se-hi, which means ‘the sun’ in Amharic) was recently announced as one of the new Wiggles’ cast members of Fruit Salad TV. She is an award-winning dancer, representing Australia at the World Latin Dance Championships. Tsehay has also won eleven Australian titles and four World titles in Latin and Commercial Dance and is the current Australian and World Youth Ladies Salsa and Urban Latin Champion and the current World Amateur Ladies Salsa and Urban Latin Champion.
Of becoming the new Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins said, “I am honoured to be joining The Wiggles at such an exciting time for the group. I grew up watching The Wiggles and I’ve already loved working with Anthony, Emma, Simon, Lachy, Evie, Kelly, John and all the Wiggly characters filming their latest TV series Fruit Salad TV. I’m now incredibly excited to be joining them in the yellow skivvy and to have the chance to go out on the road in the new arena tour, I can’t wait to meet all the Wiggly fans. Dancing has always been my passion, and I look forward to being able to share the joy of song and dance with children all over the world!”
The cast of the Fruit Salad TV Big Show Arena Tour
The Wiggles back on the road
The Wiggles will soon be out on the road again, as Tsehay joins Anthony, Lachy and Simon on the road as The Wiggles make their highly-anticipated return to touring, bringing their brand-new Fruit Salad TV Big Show arena tour to stages around Australia.
Also making very special appearances as they tour around the country will be The Wiggles from Fruit Salad TV – Blue Wiggle Evie, Purple Wiggle John and Yellow Wiggle Kelly.
The expanded Wiggly line-up are set to dance onto stages beginning in Cairns on February 5, and finishing in Adelaide in May visiting Townsville, Darwin, Hobart, Launceston, Melbourne, Newcastle, Wollongong, Canberra, Perth, Kalgoorlie, Sydney and Brisbane.
Tickets are on sale from October 22 at www.thewiggles.com.
The Original (OG) Wiggles
Original Wiggles arena tour
Following the success of their recent sold-out adults-only concert, the OG Wiggles are back as Anthony Field, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt and Greg Page announces a tour with Saturday and Sunday night 18+ shows.
Joining them will be cameos from characters such as Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, and Henry the Octopus.
Each show will have a support act, featuring music artists including Polish Club, DZ Deathrays and more.
Jeff Fatt, OG Purple Wiggle, said, “All of those children who loved The Wiggles in the 90s are now adults who love the nostalgia and fun from that time in their lives. This night is for the grown-ups and is a chance to bring back some of that genuine, high-spirited liveliness again. We can’t wait to relive those childhood memories and dance the night away to some of the favourite old-school tunes.”
See also: ABC Commercial negotiates return of The Wiggles to UK on BT TV