30 years of Wiggly fun The Wiggles celebrate a milestone

3o years OF wIggly FUN

For nearly three decades, The Wiggles, the world’s most popular children’s entertainment group have educated, entertained and enriched the lives of millions of pre-schoolers (and their parents) all over the globe.

Today generations of fans that grew up watching are sharing their love of The Wiggles with their own children.

The Wiggles and their songs are referenced in dozens of TV shows and movies, while The Wiggles brand has adorned nearly every product imaginable for children from sheets to shoes to clothes and beyond. Having sold over 30 million DVDs and CDs, and 8 million books globally, The Wiggles continue to dominate the preschool entertainment scene. Their annual live shows continue to sell out to audiences on three separate continents, their videos are seen in over 190 countries around the world, and in an age where digital streaming dominates entertainment platforms, The Wiggles’ have now achieved over 2 billion streams in the last two years alone. Along with original Wiggle and founder Anthony Field (The Blue Wiggle); Emma Watkins (The Yellow Wiggle), Lachy Gillespie (The Purple Wiggle), Simon Pryce (The Red Wiggle) and their Wiggly friends are poised to remain generational favourites for at least another 30 years to come! In 2019, The Wiggles played a total of 335 shows around the world, selling over 450,000 tickets. Parents can not wait to get Wiggles tickets for their children. The Wiggles end-ofyear arena tour saw ticket presales of 101,112 tickets within 24 hours.

The Wiggles YouTube channel has had explosive growth in the past few years, with increased subscribers, views and watch time spanning across 227 territories. The channel has accumulated over 1.4 million subscribers and over 1.6 billion views!

10 Fun Facts about The Wiggles:

1. Before founding The Wiggles in 1991, Anthony (Blue Wiggle) was a preschool teacher. During the 1980s, he was the guitarist in the Aussie rock band “The Cockroaches,” who were a gold- and platinum-selling band, with a top 10 single, “She’s the One.”

2. Kylie Minogue was made an honorary “Pink Wiggle” in 2009. 3. Anthony, Greg and Murray met while studying Early Childhood Education at Macquarie University. 4. Anthony and Jeff were in a pub rock band called The Cockroaches in the 1980s.

5. Anthony can play a slew of instruments including the tin whistle, didgeridoo and bagpipes. 6. The Wiggles sold out 12 straight shows at The Theater at Madison Square Garden in New York City. 7. Greg owns the fourth biggest collection of Elvis Presley memorabilia in the world. 8. Prior to becoming the Red Wiggle, Simon had a successful career in musical theatre. He played the Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s production of “The Phantom of the Opera” that toured throughout Asia for five years. 9. Lachy (Purple Wiggle) has always had a love of musical theatre and has earned a Bachelor of Arts in Musical Theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts. This is an exclusive performing arts college with such graduates as Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, Tim Minchin and Frances O’Connor.

10. When Emma (Yellow Wiggle) was nine years old, she appeared alongside her sister as an audience member in The Wiggles’ firstever live video, “Wiggledance,” in 1997.

Emma Watkins: What do you like most about being a Wiggle?

Having the opportunity to be the first female Wiggle is such an exciting adventure after watching The Wiggles all through my childhood. The popularity of my character is indeed a wonderful thrill and a big responsibility. Children are coming to the show dressed in hair bows, bow ties, yellow ballet tutus and bows on their shoes; it is quite “bowtiful” to see!

Lachy Gillespie: What do you like most about being a Wiggle?

There are so many wonderful parts, but most of all, it is that children have accepted and fallen in love with the new generation of The Wiggles. The Wiggles have been an Australian icon for 30 years and to be able to tour all over Australia and all over the world performing for children is an absolute dream come true. For a performer, children and their families are the most wonderful audience.

Simon Pryce: What do you like most about being a Wiggle?

There are so many wonderful things about being one of The Wiggles, but by far the most rewarding part of the job for me is having the opportunity to meet children and families all over the world. To know that you are putting a smile on someone’s face and are having a positive influence in children’s and families lives is an incredible feeling.

Anthony Field: What will the future bring for The Wiggles?

We will continue to make new and interesting content, that ignites all areas of a child’s development. Through music and dance, we hope to guide children as they learn selfexpression and develop emotional confidence. We’ve introduced and entertained a new generation of children in Australia, New Zealand and North America but we want to reach so many more countries. So that’s a great challenge ahead of us, but we feel if we have the right partners, we know that children right around the world, will be engaged by The Wiggles music, characters and stories. Our dream has been to share music, fun and laughter with children everywhere – and this is what we strive to do, each and every day.

To celebrate 30 years of educating and entertaining children across world the Wiggles are launching a brand-new single, We’re All Fruit Salad, a fun celebration of diversity, inclusion, and reflection, delivering a message of unity, respect, appreciation and acceptance. The song is performed with a number of special guest artists. The Wiggles are kicking off a year of fun activities and events for the 30th including new music releases, new and exclusive content on FTA, STV, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, special events, concert tours and collaborations across fashion and lifestyle brands.