Real reason Emma Watkins walked away from The Wiggles
In her first in-depth interview since leaving the group, Watkins tells Stellar about the personal goals that finally compelled her to quit after 10 years in the yellow skivvy and why she is far from finished with children’s entertainment.
Stellar
Don't miss out on the headlines from Stellar. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Over the Christmas holidays, Emma Watkins found herself endlessly singing ‘Old MacDonald Had A Farm’.
She knows this might sound ridiculous, given she had just announced that she was calling time on her job of more than a decade, which saw her perform a litany of original children’s songs – and, yes, that very nursery rhyme – to young ones and the young at heart in arenas across the country and around the globe as a member of the beloved Australian children’s group The Wiggles.
So she had every reason not to keep doing it, except she suddenly had the time to entertain a very important audience of one: her three-year-old nephew Levi, who was her passenger as she drove him in the car.
“I changed the lyrics to ‘Mr Levi had a farm...’,” Watkins tells Stellar during a chat from her farm in NSW’s Southern Highlands.
“And then I’d wait for the gap [in the song] and he would shout back the animal he had. We did this for ages. It showed me why that decision [to leave The Wiggles] was really important. Because he’s three, and I’ve never really been able to spend that time with him.”
A lot of big news stories broke in 2021, but for parents of young children everywhere, few felt quite as personally seismic as the October announcement that the artist now formerly known as Emma Wiggle would be hanging up her yellow skivvy.
Her decision was so big it even inspired a headline on the satirical Aussie news website The Betoota Advocate that blared: “‘Emma The Wiggle Has Gone To Live On A Farm,’ Says Mum Of Toddlers”.
Watkins laughs at its uncomfortable truth, and speaking at length for the first time about the career choice she has made, she has a message for those mums and their discombobulated toddlers who are now watching as 16-year-old dancer Tsehay Hawkins steps into her role.
“I’m really sorry,” she says. “I never, ever, ever – ever – want to let down the children. But I relate it to when I took time off after I had surgery for my endometriosis in 2018. I had two beautiful performers replace me on tour for a period of weeks.
“I felt terrible and kept thinking, how are we going to do this? But the children still came to the shows, because they love the music. That experience helped me make this decision, because everyone was OK after that.”
The 32-year-old says there was no sudden lightbulb moment that compelled her to quit. It wasn’t because she was unhappy, or that the touring schedule was too demanding – though the latter would certainly have been an acceptable reason given that prior to the pandemic, The Wiggles spent at least eight months of the year on the road.
Rather, she says, it was a culmination of things, the main one being her ongoing studies. For the better part of the past decade, and across countless performances of ‘Big Red Car’, Watkins was also a university student. She earned a masters, and is now in the midst of pursuing a PhD.
The break from touring brought on by the pandemic made her realise that it was time to really capitalise on all that learning.
In the next six months, Watkins will finish her degree – which combines her love of dance, sign language and visual-editing techniques – to create opportunities for people to engage with visual media that may not need or use an auditory stimulus.
“Part of the decision is knowing that I have some more to bring to the world by being able to finish this research, come back and present it in another way. I knew I needed to be completely embroiled in it to finish it,” she says.
“It just makes no sense to me why the media shouldn’t be inclusive and accessible. And now is the time when I feel I can help make a big change.”
This isn’t the first time Watkins has agitated for – and, indeed, made – a significant social change. When she became the Yellow Wiggle in 2013, she brought to an end the troupe’s history as an all-male quartet.
Asked to reflect on her performing legacy, Watkins tells Stellar, “That fact feels like a dream. It was a beautiful time. However, it wasn’t without its challenges. It took about two or three years to actually have people accept that there was a female among the group; that was a massive deal back then.
“It wasn’t really liked. A lot of people were very territorial about the original group and in a way I could understand, because I grew up with that group. So to then see how that changed over the decade, and children coming to the show dressed in beautiful Emma costumes, or wearing bows... it’s powerful.”
As powerful, she says, as the memories she treasures from years of being able to meet, comfort and entertain sick and terminally ill youngsters.
“There have been quite a few really poignant moments with children that have been at hospital,” she says. “I don’t know why it worked this way, but often we would visit terminally ill children and then a week later they would pass.”
During the break, Watkins spent some time sorting through her garage, which is filled with letters and homemade posters from fans. She also came across photos of many of those sick children, including one of Harper Dowdall, who passed away from an aggressive brain tumour in 2019.
“There are too many stories like Harper’s,” she says, as her eyes well with tears.
“I’ve been in awe of the children and the parents. They are just so resilient. They’ve had to deal with so much. It just amazes me. It’s terrible but also beautiful. I’m so glad that I still have the photos.”
If Wiggles fans were despondent at her departure, Watkins says her bandmates – founding member Anthony Field, Simon Pryce and Lachlan Gillespie (who was also married to Watkins from 2016-2018) – felt exactly the same. “They were sad,” she says.
“Particularly Lachie, because he and I have spent this whole journey together. But they’ve been quite understanding. Throughout my time with the company, I’ve seen lots of people move to different roles. All of us, apart from Anthony, have had other roles before we were asked to be Wiggles. There’s always been a sense of transformation and evolving within the group.”
What Watkins does know – and says she always has, even after all that time spent embodying a chipper, can-do alter ego – is who she is out from under the guise of Emma Wiggle.
“I’ve always seen Emma Wiggle as a separate character. I think of myself as a gateway for children to experience music and dance. We have a responsibility to introduce children to entertainment and I’m that vehicle.
“I’m really proud of that. It’s been so rewarding. But the time away during Covid showed me that I gave The Wiggles everything.”
Besides, she says, along with her studies, she also wants to focus on spending more time with her loved ones. Last April, Watkins announced she was engaged to Wiggles musician Oliver Brian, but it wasn’t until Christmas that their two families were finally able to meet.
“Olly and I both came to the realisation that we hadn’t seen our families at all. We don’t have very big families, but I think we’re getting to this age now where it’s important,” says Watkins, who says the two are hoping to get married this year. “That’s the plan, anyway,” she says with a smile.
And Watkins is not entirely through with children’s entertainment, as it turns out. Aside from not ruling out the chance to rejoin The Wiggles for one-off special performances, she has plans to introduce a new character she calls Emma Memma.
“I know she likes dancing. I know she will sign. And she will incorporate my research. But the rest is open.”
Until she fleshes out that concept, though, Watkins is simply looking forward to blending into a crowd – although her shock of red hair, mile-wide smile and years of exposure to young Australians everywhere may not help her stay incognito for long.
Still, she reasons, the time away from being so visible will be good for her.
“I’ve never been this unknown in my life. Ever,” she tells Stellar. “I’ve always had a schedule. I’ve always had a timetable. A plan. I knew what was happening. I’m excited about not knowing.”
Originally published as Real reason Emma Watkins walked away from The Wiggles
Seven star fires back at critics
Mark Humphries – the host of Seven’s controversial satirical news bulletin – has shared a blunt message for his haters, branding the reaction to his segment as ‘bizarre’.
MAFS star: ‘I’d probably just have gone on Tinder’
Former Married At First Sight star Lucinda Light takes aim at dating apps and explains why going on the reality series ‘felt like a giant slap’ – as she opens up about her relationship status.