Yahoo Lifestyle 
The Wiggles announce new line-up featuring Justice Crew member
The Wiggles has made a massive cast announcement, expanding its line-up to eight people for the first time ever.
Four new faces are joining the children’s band with the intent to represent diversity and gender equality for their young audience.
Alongside Blue Wiggle Anthony, Yellow Wiggle Emma, Purple Wiggle Lachy and Red Wiggle Simon are four newcomers of each Wiggle colour, including three women.
Blue Wiggle Evie, Yellow Wiggle Kelly, Purple Wiggle John and Red Wiggle Tsehay will make their debut in The Wiggles’ new YouTube series Fruit Salad TV on September 4, which is dedicated to “celebrating and embracing all Australians”.
RELATED:
The Wiggles recruit Simon Cowell for ‘best ever’ Uber Eats ad
The Wiggles' Emma Watkins reveals health battle: 'I was very unwell'
Among the latest additions is John Pearce, who is of Filipino descent and is set to bring his love of getting strong and working out as a personal trainer to the group.
John is also well known for being a part of ARIA-nominated pop music group Justice Crew, who won Australia’s Got Talent in 2010 and had large success with their singles Best Night and Que Sera.
Also joining The Wiggles is 15-year-old Tsehay Hawkins, who was born in Ethiopia and is a Latin dance champion. Tsehay has previously worked with the band when creating TikTok content.
The group’s new Blue Wiggle, Evie Ferris, is a Taribelang woman who is a highly talented ballet dancer and yoga instructor. Evie is also the second First Nations woman to have joined The Australian Ballet.
Rounding up the group is Kelly Hamilton, who is of Chinese-Australian background and used to be a dancer for The Wiggles. She's also previously performed in other children’s shows, including Sesame Street, Justine Clarke and Dora the Explorer.
There are also three new non-binary characters in The Wiggles universe, including Officer Beaples, Shirley Shawn the Unicorn and Bok the hand puppet.
Anthony Field, who is the only remaining original Wiggle, said that the shake-up was important for the group to “continue to evolve along with our society”.
“As society has evolved, we have embraced the need for diversity and inclusiveness and want children all over the world to see themselves reflected on the screen,” he said in a statement.
“This is the first step towards shaping The Wiggles for the next 30 years, taking us in a direction that truly represents and serves our community more inclusively.
“We can’t wait to introduce our amazing new lineup of incredibly talented performers to children in Australia and around the world.”
Never miss a thing. Sign up to Yahoo Lifestyle’s daily newsletter.
Or if you have a story idea, email us at lifestyle.tips@verizonmedia.com.
