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The Wiggles Add Four New Members To Become More Culturally And Gender Diverse

The Wiggles Add Four New Members To Become More Culturally And Gender Diverse

The new look band will feature people from different backgrounds to make everyone in Australia feel represented.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Beloved children's entertainers, The Wiggles, have expanded the band to become more culturally and gender diverse.

Joining Anthony, Emma, Lachy and Simon will be Evie, Kelly, John and Tsehay.

According to News Corp, the expanded line up comes ahead of their new series Fruit Salad TV.

It will premiere next month on the band's YouTube channel and it's hoped to make all Aussies feel welcome.

The longest continuing member of the band, Blue Wiggle Anthony Field, said in a statement: "The Wiggles were created during a time when early childhood educational concepts were the focus.

"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.

"It's so important that The Wiggles continue to evolve along with our society. 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 are excited for the next chapter in The Wiggles' history which will start with Fruit Salad TV and continue on with our other content and our live shows.

"We can't wait to introduce our amazing new line-up of incredibly talented performers to children in Australia and around the world."

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Tsehay is an award-winning dancer from Ethiopia with an interest in salsa and urban Latin while Evie is a Taribelang woman from central Queensland and was the second First Nations woman ever to have joined The Australian Ballet.

John is of Australian and Filipino descent and was a member of the ARIA nominated band The Justice Crew, while Kelly has Australian and Chinese heritage and has performed on loads of children's shows like Sesame Street.

The Wiggles will also have a few other members joining the likes of Dorothy the Dinosaur and Captain Feathersword.

We'll be getting Officer Beaples, a dancing police officer, Shirley Shawn, a non-binary unicorn, and Bok the hand puppet.

It's all part of a new-age entertaining group that will allow loads of people in Australia to feel like they're being represented on stage and on the screen.

The Wiggles

Anthony added to NCA Newswire: "I'd been thinking about it for the last couple of years and there's no better time than now.

"Morally we have to do this ... I looked around the world and I thought we have to reflect our audience. Our audience is not just one culture. We want children to see a mirror of themselves.

"I got a beautiful email from someone who said they came out because of Shirley Shawn the Unicorn; they said that we gave them acceptance and helped them accept themselves.

"But you do get people who don't like change. I do worry for our wonderful brand new members that they might get negative stuff on the internet.

Fruit Salad TV will premiere on September 4.

Featured Image Credit: The Wiggles

Topics: Australia