Dear Wiggles: Is Chasing Your Kids the New Workout?

Fitness looks a little different once kids come along.

Simon and Lachy talk about staying active around parenting, work and life on the road - from knee surgery and garage workouts to the very honest reality check of the Wiggle pants.

To submit a question for the ‘Dear Wiggles’ segment, email us at [e-mail] or send us a DM on Insta https://www.instagram.com/wiggletalkpodcast/

HOSTS
Simon Pryce
Lachy Gillespie

PRODUCERS
Produced by The Wiggles and Mylk Media
Madeline Joannou
Nick Webb

For more Wiggly fun, visit:

The Wiggles 🌏 http://thewiggles.com

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About The Wiggles' Podcast - Wiggle Talk

Think you’ve got parenting figured out? So do Simon and Lachy - until the toddler throws a curveball. On Wiggle Talk - a podcast for parents, Red Wiggle Simon Pryce and Purple Wiggle Lachy Gillespie tackle the tricky, funny, and unexpected moments of raising little humans.

Simon, dad to son Asher, and Lachy, father to twin daughters Lulu and Lottie and stepdad to Jasper, share the highs and lows of parenting in the early years. Alongside their own stories, they welcome guests - from parenting experts to well-known personalities - who bring fresh perspectives and practical wisdom to the table.

Each week also features Dear Wiggles- where listeners send in their questions, the things that keep them up at night, or the dilemmas they’d love another parent’s take on. Simon and Lachy talk it through with honesty, and when needed, they call in expert friends to help provide thoughtful advice and reassurance.

With decades of experience in children’s education and entertainment, The Wiggles bring their trademark warmth and playfulness to conversations on everything from sleep and routines to tantrums, play, and the big feelings that come with family life.

Two dads, no filter, figuring it out as they go.

About The Wiggles

For over three decades, The Wiggles have been a beloved cornerstone of children's entertainment, captivating and educating millions of preschoolers—and their parents—around the world. Known for their high-energy performances, catchy songs, and colourful characters, The Wiggles have built a global legacy rooted in the power of music and movement to inspire early childhood learning.

With a mission to make education fun, The Wiggles create content specifically designed for pre-K, preschool, kindergarten, and nursery school age groups. Their unique blend of music, dance, and educational content not only entertains but also helps children understand the world around them. Generations of fans who grew up watching The Wiggles are now sharing that same joy with their own children.

The Wiggles’ impact is truly global: they’ve achieved billions of music streams and YouTube views, and have sold more than 30 million albums and DVDs, along with eight million books worldwide. The Wiggles continue to dominate the preschool entertainment scene, connecting with new generations through various platforms. Their live shows consistently sell out across three continents, and their videos are enjoyed on countless broadcast and digital platforms in over 190 countries.

The Wiggles continue to dominate the preschool entertainment scene, connecting with new generations through various platforms. You can watch them on ABC Kids, Netflix, Prime Video, and Stan, and stream Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles on Prime Video. Stay connected by visiting www.thewiggles.com, subscribing to their YouTube channel, and following them on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.

The Wiggles' enduring appeal proves that their fun, educational approach to children's entertainment remains as relevant and beloved as ever. 

See

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Wiggles acknowledged the traditional custodians of country throughout Australia
and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay
our respects to elders, past, present and emerging.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
Welcome to wiggle Talk. Hello, Simon. My name is Locky
and I am the Purple Wiggle.

Speaker 3 (00:25):
I went to interrupt you because we normally say a
podcast for parents.

Speaker 4 (00:28):
Oh we do do it again.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Okay, hello everybody, and welcome to.

Speaker 4 (00:33):
Wiggle Talk, a podcast for parents.

Speaker 2 (00:35):
My name is Locky and I'm the Purple Wiggle.

Speaker 3 (00:38):
And my name is Simon and I'm the hatless Red Wiggle.
But Lockie, you're you've got a hat on today?

Speaker 2 (00:43):
Can I tell you why?

Speaker 4 (00:44):
Please?

Speaker 2 (00:45):
We've done and I finally finished Yellowstone okay, five series
over probably a year. Yep, we towards the end. We
spaced out the last few one a weekend.

Speaker 4 (00:58):
Ex actually didn't want it to end. It was sad. Have
you got a watching night? No?

Speaker 3 (01:03):
No, no, just whenever we girls go to bed yep,
make a hot chocolate and little hot chocolate.

Speaker 2 (01:09):
It's got magnesia. A minute we get more sleepy? Is
the show? I was just emotional and rip you haven't
seen it.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
I haven't seen it.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
It's a character called Rip and he's just the best
and is he wears so in celebration of us finishing Yellowstone. Yeah,
I'm wearing a hat the entire day to day.

Speaker 4 (01:26):
Really, yes, it does. It looks good on you.

Speaker 2 (01:30):
Thank you?

Speaker 3 (01:31):
You do suit a hat? Yes, a cowboy hat, a
cow person hat, that's good. Yeah, I'm not a hat person.
I think I've got a funny head for a hat.

Speaker 2 (01:39):
You look quite good in a cap, don't you.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:42):
I thought I thought you did.

Speaker 4 (01:43):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
When we played golf together, you.

Speaker 4 (01:45):
Look very Yeah.

Speaker 3 (01:46):
You know what's happened recently and I don't know if
it's what's that you know, our headsets you.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Wear for the show, live shows, yes, yeah, spears, microphones.

Speaker 3 (01:55):
Yeah, the Britney spears. Recent times they stick by you
form the top and I can't work out.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Does that mean it's too short? It might have been.

Speaker 4 (02:04):
I don't know.

Speaker 3 (02:05):
I've been having trouble with it. So when you see, yeah,
a little sticky outy on the top. Health But you
know I don't have a hat. I've got my glasses
and some sticky ODIs.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
Do you want me to read you the questions.

Speaker 4 (02:17):
Oh yeah, because this is Dear Wiggles. Wiggle Talk Talk Talk,
wiggle Talk.

Speaker 3 (02:21):
It's Dear Wiggles, authorized by Simon Locky.

Speaker 2 (02:25):
This is a fitness and active parents question.

Speaker 3 (02:28):
Simon really, and they're coming to us because I'm not
sure the question. We're about to find out.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
Hello, Locki and Simon love the show. Found this through
searching for answers around separation anxiety. So thank you for
that episode. Huge fan of you as Wiggles too. I
would love to hear from both of you about how
staying fit helps you to be a better, more active
parent and the importance of physical health in parenthood. Simon,

(02:54):
I've seen some photos of you looking jacked Howe question
mark at Lockie not seeing too much belly fat on
you either, with a smiley face. Thank you, Christopher. Now,
how do you find the time and do you get
your little ones involved? From a fellow dad, Christopher.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Wow, Christopher, I don't know if anyone's ever called me
jack before you know you Jackman, Hugh Jackman. I've always exercised, yes,
even from being a little kid. My dad used to
go to the gym, so I kind of just followed in
those footsteps early on. But it was always very physical
and would exercise adult life, you know, five days a

(03:33):
week usually, and that was always just part of my routine.
That's kind of what I always did. Now obviously that
changes a lot once you have a child and you
try to manage it where you can. But I think
for me, not saying that I am jacked, but I
think there's a level my body sits at and I
know how to maintain a level. Now it fluctuates, but

(03:55):
I know that if I go and hit the gym
for a few weeks, then I kind of get back
to a certain level pretty quickly, probably because of all
that muscle memory and all that exercise I've done over
the years.

Speaker 4 (04:05):
With Asher, it's way harder.

Speaker 3 (04:07):
And then I did my knee and had my highb osteotomy.
They broke my leg essentially my lower leg, and re
put it back together again in a slightly different shape.
Now I've got a little turning out to match my
turning out of years. But as a parent and not

(04:27):
being as fit as I was, and then when I
had a bad knee, I struggled. I really struggled not
being as physically active with Asher. I couldn't run after him.
I literally couldn't because my knee was so bad. I
couldn't actually run, And that really played on my mind.
And I found that really hard, which is one of
the motivator as to why I got it fixed and
looked actually having that the surgery I had, which is

(04:49):
pretty brutal, so I could get up and get running
again and get moving and just be able to be
active with Asher. Yeah, that was kind of the main motivation.

Speaker 2 (04:57):
You ran with loss before Asher, you were running.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
Yeah, And I mean probably given my size I'm six
foot four, yes, as you are.

Speaker 4 (05:07):
I'm probably not.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
My knee was probably in response to the fact of
how much I ran, being a bigger, heavier person. But yeah,
I used to run a lot, used to be really
physically active, and I still now. Forget back to what
Christopher's asking, I maintain the level as much as I can.
I try to get Asher involved as much as I can.
If Ash is riding his bike, I'll run. I just

(05:30):
incorporate activity in day to day life more so than
being able to get that specific time to go to
a gym or to put that hour aside.

Speaker 4 (05:39):
I kind of just change the way I do it.

Speaker 3 (05:41):
And now the older I'm getting, all I think really
is about brain and heart health. Yes, and think about
those two things to sort of maintain my lifestyle as
I get older.

Speaker 2 (05:53):
That's great. This is separate, but along what you were
saying on the weekend done it was reading out in
the balcony and just beloves his like Sunday off where
he's just not doing anything, but he just came out with, oh, mommy,
I love seeing you read. And then he was sitting
out there to reading. It's just copying the behavior. So

(06:13):
if you've always seen yours exercise, that's gone along with
you and it's something that's just stuck with you. Asher
now sees that in a different way from you what
you were doing before him, maybe with your knee, but
you still maintain that level and he's going to watch
that and see that.

Speaker 4 (06:29):
The yeah, that's right.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
When Asha was from a little baby, we lived across
the road from a park. We just take out a
big rug and we just do body I'd take out
a few weights or do some body weight exercises. And
Asher's little baby was just there and there's photos and
videos of us where's I'm doing sit ups and he's
lying on top of me and laughing and giggling as
a little tiny baby. You know, I just think it

(06:50):
was hysterical. So you're right, Lock, He's just been around,
been part of our life. And also because of Loves
is so incredibly fit, and that's always been a big
part of her life. That Ash has just been around it.
And so he does accept it when I say I
can't play with him Ashes, because I've just got to
go and do it of exercise and he'll come down.
We've got a little tiny setup in the garage, just

(07:11):
a few little things.

Speaker 4 (07:11):
He'll come down.

Speaker 3 (07:12):
He's got a little one killer weights and he'll do
some weights for me and stuff, and just so he
feels kind of part of it.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Now, Christopher, A good gauge for us is our wiggle pants.
And I was getting frustrated recently. I have had some
belly fat and I am not too I don't know
what photo you see balances it out. It probably does
just a bigger belt buckle. It's a whole no. But
I've had some stern talkings to myself because you know,
there's lots of photos up on the wall around here,

(07:40):
and a lot of them are not peak Lucky so
it's a general minder. But no, I've lost it a
little bit of weight recently, but I'm doing it in
a healthy way. I'm running and just eating less really.
But our wiggle pants there are a very good indicator, yep.
And I've got a few pairs that I got made
quite a few years ago that I still hang up there.

(08:03):
You know what I'm going to get you.

Speaker 3 (08:04):
I actually went through this this morning because we're going
to Brisbane this afternoon shows, and all of a sudden
I realized that I've got to take some wiggle clothes
with me, and I can't find a pair of my pants,
and I think they're in a road case on the
way to America. I was going to say to Brisbane, No, no,
I didn't put anything in that road caase because I
thought I'll just bring myself. And I think a pair

(08:25):
of my pants my go to pants on their way
to America, and so the other pair of pants I
have more snug than I would like. And then I
found another pair of pants which are brand new, which
I've never worn, and they were made from a pair

(08:47):
a previous pan and I just don't fit in them.

Speaker 4 (08:52):
Okay.

Speaker 3 (08:52):
I went downhill fast so I'm coming back. But yeah,
it is tricky. Bit by bit, little extra weight creeps on.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
Yeah it does, that's right, and it does without you
even knowing. And then all of a sudden, Yeah, you know,
having a pair of pants and your wardrobe, that is
that gauge for you was It's quite helpful. But into
the pressure on that pair of pants and the zip there,
you have nothing to change.

Speaker 4 (09:18):
I know about one pair of p have a blowout.

Speaker 2 (09:26):
Turn around.

Speaker 4 (09:27):
Do you put weight on your head?

Speaker 2 (09:30):
Well, I hope not. Maybe the less here you have
the lea.

Speaker 4 (09:38):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
This is just still holding on. But Christopher, this reminds me.
I haven't even talked to you about this. But there
is a plan for the end of the year that
I'm excited about. Okay, we will talk and Simon and myself.

Speaker 4 (09:50):
First, that's all I'm saying. Okay, but there is it's
a bits to do with finners. Really, maybe we can
get Christopher on board.

Speaker 2 (09:58):
We could actually yeah, but a surprise.

Speaker 3 (10:01):
Okay, all right, We're halfway through the year.

Speaker 4 (10:05):
I know.

Speaker 2 (10:07):
I've got it. I've got an idea. Okay, all right, great,
well watch this space, Christopher. All right, things are coming.

Speaker 3 (10:12):
And I think the more you can just keep some
consistency in your life with eating and with moving, then
the better if you'll be in the long term. I mean,
I've given up the idea now of having you know, jacked,
but I just want to be healthy. Yeah, I just
want to maintain a level of healthiness which can I

(10:33):
can maintain for the next you know, ten twenty years
of my life and have that kind of as my
go to benchmark. But I am going to try to
get back into those pants.

Speaker 4 (10:43):
Yep. That could be our end of the year big
shot at the end of the year.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Might have something to do with that. Okay, all right,
thank you for that question, Christopher. I hope that helps.
If you have been enjoying wiggle Talk, please make sure
you follow or subscribe to the pannel and you will
not miss an episode.

Speaker 4 (11:02):
No, that's right, because you've subscribed.

Speaker 3 (11:04):
Yes, And if you've got a question for us, you
send us an email at podcast at the Wiggles dot
com dot au.

Speaker 2 (11:11):
That's it for another Dear Wiggles episode, a podcast appearance.

Speaker 4 (11:14):
Oh dear, goodbye bye.