Wiggle room: children’s band The Wiggles changes line-up after 21 years

The Australian group, which earn an estimated £30 million a year, play to more
than a million people annually and have sold 23 million DVDs, seven million
CDs and countless toys, lunchboxes, backpacks and ring tones. They set up
franchised skivvied versions in Taiwan and Latin America but went no
further after they realised that fans preferred the band in English even
when they did not understand the words – with song titles like “Di Dicki Do
Dum” and “Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car ”, it hardly seemed to matter.

The band said yesterday it will play a final worldwide tour with its current
line-up and will visit Britain later this year, before “the big skivvy
handover”.

Watkins, who grew up watching The Wiggles, joined the group as a back-up
dancer two years ago and has played roles such as Fairy Larissa, Dorothy the
Dinosaur and Wags the Dog. Technically, she will not be the first female
member – Kylie Minogue was made an honorary Pink Wiggle in 2009.

“I’ve been a big fan of The Wiggles since I was a little girl, so it’s a huge
privilege to be invited to wear one of the skivvies and perform for a whole
new generation of children,” Watkins said.

Earlier this year, the group prompted public outrage in Australia after
sacking a longstanding member, Sam Moran, who joined in 2006 to replace a
founding member, Greg Page, the Yellow Wiggle, who was suffering health
problems. In January, Page, who had run into financial trouble, said his
health had recovered and resumed his yellow skivvy. But local media claimed
Moran was ostracised by the other Wiggles and referred to as the “salaried
Wiggle”.

Though the announcement of the shake-up came as a shock, the gruelling touring
schedule was known to have taken its toll. The band’s oldest member, Jeff
Fatt, 58, the Purple Wiggle, and Cook, 51, had both reportedly been
considering retiring for some time.

“We want to thank all our Wiggly fans – it’s been a great ride in our big red
car. We are really looking forward to saying farewell and having one last
dance with everyone during the tour,” said Fatt.

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