There must be something in the Wiggle water, with Purple Wiggle Lachy Gillespie welcoming twin baby girls with his fiancée, ballet dancer Dana Stephensen, in September, and Red Wiggle Simon Pryce soon to be a father for the first time.
WATCH: Simon Pryce and Lauren Hannaford’s gender reveal
Simon and pregnant wife Lauren Hannaford’s first Wiggly baby is due soon – but they’re hoping not too soon. As Simon gears up for The Wiggles’ performance at Channel Seven’s Woolworths Carols in the Domain, he’s crossing his wiggly fingers that his and Lauren’s baby boy arrives in early January as planned.
“Everywhere we go, we hear: ‘My child came six weeks early,’” Simon, 48, tells New Idea. “We haven’t got time for that. He needs to stay in there until January!”
Simon and Lauren met and fell in love when she stepped into the role of Dorothy the Dinosaur. They married in 2017. The couple tried for two years to fall pregnant, before finally receiving the wonderful news this year.
“Lauren and I are both really excited,” Simon enthuses. “Lauren is doing really well, although she’s getting a bit uncomfortable now.”
While The Wiggles have been off the road for much of the year due to coronavirus pandemic restrictions, Simon is looking forward to bringing their baby along with them when the group starts touring again soon.
“People ask us: ‘How will we make it work with touring?’” says Simon. “We’ll work it out as we go along.
“Maybe we’ll get one of those harnesses, put him in a red skivvy and I’ll have him with me while we do the show. Start them young, right?”
And with Lachy now a dad, it looks like they’re breeding the next incarnation of The Wiggles!
“Lachy has twins now and I have never seen him look more tired,” Simon spills. “He’s really happy, the girls are doing really well and everyone is healthy.
“And our tour manager, Luke, is having a baby too. I think we might need a Wiggly crèche on the road.”
For now, Simon is focused on The Wiggles’ performance at Woolworths Carols in the Domain. And this time will be even more special for the all-conquering group.
In any other year, Carols would be the icing on the cake after a huge year of touring for The Wiggles. But COVID-19 has meant the group – which also includes Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins and Blue Wiggle Anthony Field – have essentially been unable to perform live since March.
“Really, this will be our biggest live event for the year,” Simon explains.
“The Carols are something everybody looks forward to, as performers and as an audience as well. We’re so thankful the event can go ahead.”
While they haven’t been touring, the group has been performing Zoom shows and planning for next year, which will mark 30 glorious, fruit salad-eating, Big Red Car-driving years of The Wiggles.
“This year has given us a chance to sit back and re-evaluate things,” says Simon.
“As difficult as it has been, it’s been a really exciting time for us to make some decisions for the future for the group.
“In saying that, it’s going to be great to get out there in front of an audience again at Carols and sing some songs and celebrate Christmas.”
Of course, in another way, it’s been a massive year for Simon, who was revealed to be Puppet on the super-successful show, The Masked Singer. Reflecting on the experience, Simon says he “really treasured” his time singing songs he wouldn’t normally get the chance to perform.
“I miss Puppet,” he says of his character. “Well, maybe not putting on the costume. Actually, I don’t miss it at all!”
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