Bow-tiful! Emma Watkins’ dream role in The Wiggles’ multimillion-dollar empire
Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins is one of the most recognisable entertainers in Australia but beyond the skivvy is a smart, fashion-loving, ballet-dancing role model.
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In full Wiggles-mode, Emma Watkins is a PG rock star.
Super sleek on top, her deep auburn hair is neatly pulled into coiled curls on either side of her face.
Atop sits a dandelion yellow-and-black bow, a tactile point of amazement for any toddler lucky to get close enough to their ballet-dancing idol.
Her bumblebee-like shoes are polished, and her glossy black-and-yellow ballerina skirt is teamed with a metal belt embossed with The Wiggles’ trademark motif, and of course that skivvy.
But who is Watkins, 31, outside of her most famous entertainment role?
“I consider Emma Wiggle her own character. I think in my mind, I separate myself between me and Emma Wiggle,” Watkins said.
“They are intertwined … it’s your name, you bring your own passions and interests to the role.”
One of her interests – and a key to her personal brand – is ballet.
Raised in Sydney, Watkins is a trained ballerina who started dancing at four-years-old and has been teaching it since she was a teenager. She started Irish dancing after seeing it on an episode of the OG Wiggles (“as a child watching The Wiggles, I wanted to start Irish dancing because I saw Irish dancing on The Wiggles,” she revealed).
Watkins attended a performing arts high school and later, Sydney Film School, before completing a master’s degree in media arts and production at Sydney’s University of Technology.
Now, Watkins is undertaking a PhD at Macquarie University. “A lot of my personal work (is) exploring different ways of integrating dance, film and sign language,” she said.
It was ballet that led her to the role, joining the children’s entertainment juggernaut as a “ballet-dancing fairy”, then reaching Yellow Wiggle status in 2012.
FASHION CHOICES
With the tulle ruffles on her skirt splayed across the bench, Watkins shows News Corp one of her favourite stage outfits: a custom-made golden “Emma” tutu.
Made of sunrise-toned satin and lots of lace, the sleeved outfit features intricately-beaded flowers and, of course, bows. During our shoot, she reverses the tutu on a wooden hanger, revealing a second look: yellow-and-black tulle underneath.
“I do love this colour,” Watkins said. “As the new generation of Wiggles, now being almost 10 years in the role, it’s nice to explore different shades of yellow, especially with the tutu.
“It’s a golden yellow because of that particular kind of satin.”
“When we worked with the Australian Ballet, they came with huge cases of costumes and I think I spent half a day going through the racks.”
Watkins helped design this tutu, which was crafted by an Australian Ballet courtier.
“He would send me pictures of different overlays and lace and he’d say, ‘I’m thinking about this satin. Do you think this yellow is right?,’” Watkins said.
Her custom tutu isn’t the only designer piece in her wardrobe. Watkins is a fan of Australian designers including Aje, Camilla and Zimmermann.
After our shoot wraps, Watkins wears a belted floral Rebecca Vallance sundress, with her hair out in loose ringlets.
She is still wearing yellow. This time, there is no “bow in her hair” but the beaming smile remains.
CHARACTER PLAY
Demi-plies, among other poses, are central to her Wiggles persona.
“When I first joined, there was a realisation that I wasn’t going to fit into Greg’s outfit – like, ‘OK that shirt is too big for you!’” she said, referring to her Yellow Wiggle predecessor Greg Page.
“Dress up is such a huge part of children’s play. I think the introduction of a female Wiggle … was quite exciting to bring a feminine element to the group.
“I was asked about what I was going to wear for my costume because I don’t tend to wear pants. I don’t own a pair of jeans, I am not trendy enough.
“I thought that (a tutu) would be more practical for dancing. I have been wearing my Wiggly outfit for nine years now.”
WEDDING BELLS
For Watkins, The Wiggles are quite literally family.
Last month, she announced her engagement to band member, Oliver Brian. “When life gets more sparkly,” she wrote on Instagram.
The private pair confirmed their romance in 2019 – they had known each other for four years before their first date.
“He’s a very calm and thoughtful person and I’ve always been interested in his mind and his take on life, and his morals,” Watkins previously told Stellar. This will be Watkins’ second marriage: she and Purple Wiggle Lachy Gillespie were married for two years (the former couple still work together and remain friends).
WIGGLES EMPIRE
With a growing fashion influence and line of merchandise – from Emma dolls to replicas of her ballet-esque costume – Emma is having a say in The Wiggles’ empire.
She has penned books (Emma’s Ballet Alphabet and Emma’s Swan Ballet, among the titles) and had a spin-off series, Emma!. There’s even a Wiggles song about her: Emma (with The Bow In Her Hair).
She is hand’s on when it comes to the books and TV shows in which she – or her animated likeness – appears.
“It just depends on what the projects are,” Watkins said.
“Maybe it’s an idea that has come from them (a licensee) and they’ll run it past us. And I’ll be like, ‘add a bow to that!’
For the TV shows, Watkins is involved in “the editing and how we shoot it, that stuff I really enjoy”.
SHOWTIME
The audience at a Wiggles concert is a sea of yellow and black. Her young fans dress up in Emma costumes, spanning official merchandise to DIY versions.
“To see people dressed up it’s like, ‘whoa, that’s amazing!’ It’s not just the children that come dressed up, (there are) parents and grandparents,” she said.
And not just girls, either. “A lot of the boys are coming to the show with the entire (Emma) get-up on with bows in their hair, bows on their shoes, bow ties,” Watkins said.
“Children are going to come in whatever they feel like, they don’t come with any kind of judgment.”
On tour, Watkins does her own hair and makeup (Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk foundation is in her kit), revealing that it takes about half an hour backstage to style herself head-to-bow in her iconic costume.
“Normally, our day is so busy and we don’t tend to have a lot of time. A good half an hour to do my makeup and the wig, the costume and my microphone,” she said.
Her day really is busy, consisting of up to four shows.
“I feel fortunate that I am young, I haven’t had that many issues except when I had endometriosis, and I had quite a lot of fatigue with iron loss and all the rest of it.
“It sounds like a lot – once you’re onstage and in the first kind of five minutes, the energy from the audience is so joyous that you kind of forget about yourself.
“They’re singing along, they’re dancing, they give us requests in the middle of the show. It’s one of the secrets to The Wiggles’ success, it’s so spontaneous and reactive.”
ROLE MODEL
Asked how she approaches being a role model, Watkins is visibly moved. Yes, she is Emma Wiggle – the character – but she is also Emma Watkins, the person. It’s clear she feels a responsibility towards her young fans, especially around technology and screen time.
“The way that we’re approaching social media is to invite parents to engage with the brand in a positive way,” she said.
“There might be videos that children will enjoy alongside their parents. We’re super aware that children are watching YouTube – they’re able to navigate these screens.
“The challenge for parents now is how to manage the time that they’re on those devices.
“This is a technical age where children are born into knowing how to use devices or they’re a part of their world.
“For us, it’s about how to make that active so that the children are participating.
“Sometimes, children will watch and be very passive watchers and listeners and later, go and replicate the game outside.
“Watching Emma’s Ballet Barre, some watch and are doing demi-plies.
“Others will watch the complete video and then they’re like, ‘mum, let’s do Emma’s Ballet Barre at the kitchen’. It’s finding ways for them to be active because we understand the challenge on parents.”
Originally published as Bow-tiful! Emma Watkins’ dream role in The Wiggles’ multimillion-dollar empire
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