The Wiggles reveal their Hottest 100 winner almost didn’t happen

If the Blue Wiggle had his way, the band would have never performed their now Hottest 100 winner for Triple J.

The Wiggles controversial win of this year’s triple j’s Hottest 100 almost never was, according to one member of the group.

Blue Wiggle Anthony Field revealed on Sunday morning that if he had his way, the band would not have covered Tame Impala’s Elephant.

“As an older guy, I would have said, you know, ‘Let’s do Easybeats Friday on My Mind’,” Field told the ABC. “I‘m stuck in the past.”

The Wiggles clinched the top spot in the annual event. Picture: Supplied.

The beloved children’s entertainers narrowly beat Justin Bieber and The Kid LAROI’s catchy megahit Stay, which was strongly tipped to win in the lead-up to Saturday.

Both songs made history, with Elephant being the first Like A Version to clinch the top spot first, and it being Justin Bieber’s maiden appearance in the poll.

Sydney teen The Kid LAROI is also the highest-ranking Indigenous artist ever, with Thelma Plum previously holding the record at number 9 in 2020.

The win was lauded by those in Gen Z while older listeners were dismayed about the winner of the democratic vote.

Mr Field added it was only when he mentioned the cover of Tame Impala’s 2012 to his daughter he thought the band had hit a nerve.

“You know what, when we were practising for the Like a Version, we did a very faithful version of the song,” he said.

“Nick Webb and Natalie Waller from ABC Music were kind of advising [us] because this is all a new area to me. Contemporary music. And they said, ‘It sounds like a cover band’.”

He said it was suggested that the band include their own twist on the cover.

“I thought, ‘OK let’s throw Fruit Salad in. It has a great riff’ and we swung it,” he said.

“It‘s such a good song and people grew up with Fruit Salad and putting them together is a lot of fun.”

Originally published as The Wiggles reveal their Hottest 100 winner almost didn’t happen