With great power comes great responsibility. One of the newest members of Australia’s skivvied superheroes, The Wiggles, knows this all too well.
In May 2012 Lachy Gillespie emerged from a dog suit – phone booths are so 70s – to claim a permanent place with one of the world’s most successful children’s entertainment groups.
Gillespie replaced founding member Jeff Fatt, a killer keyboard player who constantly fell asleep on the job, and helped kickstart a new era in the wonderful world of Wiggles.
“There was a lot of pressure becoming a full-time Wiggle after appearing as Captain Feathersword and Wags the Dog, it was actually really scary, especially being a musical theatre performer,” Gillespie told Ipswich First.
“In a lot of ways no one saw it coming – it was almost like the original guys would go on as The Wiggles forever.
“Jeff was an incredible performer and keyboard player but I realised I didn’t have to be Jeff. Being myself took the pressure off and made it much easier to get across to audiences.
“We still do the ‘waking up’ routine (made famous by the song Wake Up, Jeff!), it’s a bit of an iconic moment and it gives me time to get a quick sleep in during the show.”
Sleep could become somewhat of a luxury for a group that will spend nine months on the road this year.
The Wiggle Wiggle Wiggle! tour already includes more than 160 shows across Australia along with dates in Canada and the US.
Ipswich Civic Centre will host four performances on Thursday, 5 April and a handful of tickets are on sale for the 5pm show.
WATCH: The Wiggles live, Toot Toot, Chugga Chugga, Big Red Car.
“Our schedule is pretty gruelling and of course there’s days when you’re tired or you’ve had a long flight,” Gillespie said during a break between shows in Sydney.
“But there’s something quite special about walking on stage and seeing the children sitting with their parents or grandparents and everyone is smiling back at you.
“The US is absolutely wild with a huge number of dress ups.
“One family in particular – mum dresses up as Dorothy the Dinosaur, dad is Captain Feathersword and the kids are The Wiggles.
“The US has always been a bit crazy. Right from the start The Wiggles were four guys with Aussie accents and I don’t think the US had been exposed to that sort of thing before, they just loved it.”
Smiling was the theme when Gillespie married Emma Watkins at a very wiggly wedding in April 2016.
Watkins’ Wiggles career started in 2010 and included outings as Fairy Larissa, Wags the Dog and Dorothy the Dinosaur.
She replaced founding member Greg Page as the Yellow Wiggle in May 2012 and has been credited with taking the group into the next generation.
So how does Gillespie deal with being the second most popular Wiggle in the house?
“I am totally okay with it, it doesn’t bother me at all,” he laughed.
“Emma just clicks with the audience, I don’t know what it is, she’s just a natural and I’m incredibly happy for her and it’s really exciting to see.
“(Blue Wiggle) Anthony makes a joke at every show saying 98 per cent of the audience is dressed in yellow, and that’s usually the case.”