The Wiggles: Purple Wiggle Lachy’s babies bring new intrigue to the band
Colleagues were all coloured heart emojis in response to the arrival of the Purple Wiggle, Lachy Gillespie’s, surprise twin girls. But whether the arrival of babies Lulu and Lottie create a PR issue for the group remains to be seen, Annette Sharp writes.
Entertainment
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In Wiggle World, secrets are zealously guarded and obsessively weighed up — as the Purple Wiggle’s fans discovered on Friday when Lachy Gillespie made a surprise announcement, that he’d become father to twin daughters born to a dancer from The Wiggles TV show.
The news, announced on Instagram, was greeted with an outpouring of coloured heart emojis – and a few congratulatory words on Facebook – from Wiggle Inc.
Blue Wiggle and principal shareholder Anthony Field posted two red hearts, but no words.
Red Wiggle Simon Pryce posted one red heart and a “So beautiful – congratulations” message.
And from Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins there came two purple hearts, but no words.
The birth comes just two years, almost to the day, since Gillespie and Watkins announced the end of their short marriage.
Their union had been embraced by the group’s tiniest fans as the greatest thing to happen to The Wiggles since Watkins’ recruitment as the group’s first female lead in 2012, more than two decades after the all-male act was created.
When the marriage ended, Wiggles fans were left shocked and disappointed. They’d been planning for the future arrival of a Wiggle baby, after all.
While stories abounded attributing Gillespie and Watkins’ split to her endometriosis and their having failed to gel as husband and wife, the pair stuck to what sounded like the script – telling media they loved each other more post break-up.
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Fortunately, most wanted to believe the love story was eternal and swallowed it.
The Wiggles’ line-up endured – Watkins and Gillespie’s sunny smiles slipping for only a moment. The radiant Watkins had been tapped to replace ailing original Wiggle Greg Page in 2012 after he returned briefly to the routine, having been previously replaced by Sam Moran in 2006.
The controversial and messy departures of both Page and Moran would test the PR expertise of Wiggles Inc bosses Anthony and Paul Field as they battled to maintain the group’s wholesome and unified image while dealing privately with the men’s financial claims to a slice of the pie.
Other original cast members Murray Cook and Jeff Fatt also cashed their cheques and departed that year in what will be fodder for future tell-all books.
The Wiggles hadn’t all been bad news for Moran, who, reports stated during the bust-up, had been dubbed “salaried Wiggle” by bandmates and ribbed over his poor deal.
Moran did find love with Dorothy the Dinosaur during American dancer Lyn Stuckey’s tenure as the character – the pair welcoming a child before their marriage ended.
Watkins too found love with Gillespie while animating the Dorothy costume.
And then there is dancer Lauren Hannaford, who played Dorothy and Wags the Dog before falling for current Red Wiggle, Simon Pryce. The couple are now expecting their first child together after marrying in 2017.
It might appear as though Dorothy is having all the fun in Wiggle World. And if she isn’t, what looks certain is that she and the show’s back-up dancers are as popular backstage as out front.
In another industry it might be considered an HR issue, but not this one. Not yet at least.
The arrival of Gillespie’s attractive new partner, Dana Stephensen, a senior artist with The Australian Ballet, to The Wiggles line-up then – in 2018 according to public records – was probably always going to put a smile on someone’s face.
Many will be happy it was Lachy’s.
Whether the arrival of babies Lulu and Lottie create a PR issue for the group remains to be
seen but for now the babies who are still top of mind at Wiggle Inc are likely to be the preschool-aged ticket and merchandise-buying ones out front, who pay to keep the wheels on the Wiggle bus spinning.
Annette.sharp@news.com.au
Twitter:@insharprelief