December 18, 2024 • 44 mins
Whether you are a child, have a child or have ever met a child, you will undoubtedly know of The Wiggles and not just at home here in Australia - they have also captured the hearts of families around the world since their beginning back in 1991. Speaking of capturing hearts though, in their latest evolution with eight wonderful members, one particular Wiggle has shot to global fame as the "sexy wiggle" (or officially, Big Strong John) and we’re lucky to have him here with us today.
Like many of our guests, you’ll probably have seen John Pearce many times (either with The Wiggles or on his very busy socials) before hearing him today without knowing much of what came before his chapter in the purple suit. My favourite part of the show is getting to know the person behind the scenes and you may not have known that John was a member of The Justice Crew beforehand creating a very different kind of a music, that he was a member alongside his TWIN brother - one of 7 siblings, that his original ambitions were in sport and nutrition with a previous appearance on Australian Ninja Warrior and career in PT AND that he is about to become a father for the first time (in fact, any day now!)
I had read so much about him but knew nothing about his upbringing either and the amazing journey from commission housing to global superstar while keeping such a level humble head on his shoulders. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And obviously I know who Anthony is and everyone does
when you see him. And I said, you know, if
you need a training partner, I'm peteing, so let me
know you're up the road. I know you love a
bit of fitness, and that kind of opened up the
conversation between us through social media, and yeah, one conversation
led to an invitation to Wiggle's HQ to work on
a project. I think everything happens for a reason. Then
sometimes you find a roadblock in life. I think that's
(00:21):
all supposed to happen, and you only kind of realize
when you look back. That's why I did that, That's
why that happened, and this is why this happened.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
These are the yays of our lives. Busy and happy
are not the same thing. We too rarely question what
makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but
rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than
one way. So this is a platform to hear and
explore the stories of those who found lives. They adore
the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst day
(00:50):
will bear all the facets of seizing your yay. I'm
Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned
entrepreneur who's wap the suit and heels to co found
matcha Maiden and matcha Milk Bark CZA is a series
of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring
the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way.
(01:15):
Whether you are a child, have a child, or have
ever met a single child, you will undoubtedly know of
the Wiggles, and not just at home here in Australia.
They've also captured the hearts of families around the world
since they're beginning back in nineteen ninety one. Speaking of
capturing hearts, though in their latest evolution with eight wonderful members,
one particular Wiggle has shot to global fame as the
(01:37):
Sexy Wiggle or officially as Big Strong John, and we
are so lucky to have him here with us today.
Like many of our guests, you'll probably have seen John
Pierce many times either with The Wiggles or on his
own very busy socials before hearing him today without knowing
much of what came before his chapter in the Purple Suit.
My favorite part of this show is getting to know
(01:57):
the person behind the scenes and you may not have
known that John was a member of the Justice Crew beforehand,
creating a very different kind of music to that which
he creates today. That he was a member of said
Justice Crew alongside his twin one of seven siblings, That
his original career ambitions were in sport and nutrition, with
(02:19):
a previous appearance on Australian Ninja Warrior and a career
in personal training, or that at any moment now in fact,
could be Right now as I record this, he is
about to become a father for the first time with
his beautiful wife Jesse expecting. I had read so much
about John, but knew nothing about his upbringing either, and
the amazing journey from commission Housing to global superstar while
(02:42):
keeping such a level, humble head on his shoulders. I
hope you guys enjoy finding a little bit more about
the purple Wiggle as I did. John Pierce, Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Oh thanks for having me. This is great. I feel
like we're color coordinating to the microphone jacket.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, but big missed opportunity by us. For those listening,
we are matching, but not in the color purple, Like,
how did that happen?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I know it's one of my favorite colors. Well, you know,
it's a different day today. I've got to save that
for tomorrow's show.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, I was going to have I've got a little
eight month old son and he was going to be
waiting for you when he came on to record in
this little MIDI purple wiggle outfit.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That I wow, how cool.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
But he ended up having a nap and you'll soon
learn becoming a dad in a couple of weeks how
important nap times are. But maybe he can put it
on at the end.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Okay, what's his name?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Teddy?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Oh? Teddy? Oh, how cute? Awesome? Love the meeting one day.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, he's such a little sweetheart. I'm sure in no
time he will be absolutely obsessed with all things Wiggles.
He hasn't quite discovered TV. He loves music. Still young, right,
He's still a bit young. But I know the time
will come where this will be in his eyes my
biggest achievement ever, chatting to a real life wiggle.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, that's like my little niece before she turned one.
I did the same thing. I was I was watching
The Wiggles with it, and I was sitting with and I
think I'm made a video online I was like, she
has no idea that she's watching her uncle and I'm
sitting with her. But you'll realize, and they used to come.
She looks back if she really cares, but you know.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Oh she will. I mean, you guys are celebrities. This
is a serious celebrity we have on the show this week. Listeners.
I'm so honored and I feel like this the Wiggles generally,
I mean, for many reasons, and we'll get to this,
but there's justice crew. First, there's you know, an ARIA
nominated chart topping career before we even get to the
Wiggles chapter. And then on top of that, you know,
(04:30):
you're not just a Wiggle, You're the thirsty Wiggle, which
just brings us this extra level of virality.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It's unique, it's unique.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
It's definitely you've occupied a very unique section of the Internet,
which we will get to because I'm sure. I mean,
one of the things I love to talk about on
this show is that the places that people end up
or the places that people are introduce to you now
will kind of get to know you as the Purple Wiggle.
It's really easy to assume that you had a really
smooth path there, that you always knew that you'd end
(05:01):
up where you are, and I feel like so often
when you go back to the very beginning, you started
as a kid who had big dreams and often they
aren't ever sort of what you thought that you'd end
up in. So I like to start back in childhood.
You know, I was reading that you were much more
into athletics and one hundred meters before hip hop became
a thing for you and six brothers one sister. You know,
(05:24):
there's a lot of kids running around and lots of
hopes and dreams, So figuring out sort of your path
and as a twin as well, like, there's a lot there,
So tell us about your childhood. Who you thought you'd
be when you were little.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
You know, I thought I was going to be a
parrange when I was little, me and my brother. Obviously,
I'm an identical twin, and I had a great childhood
when I look back, I always had a best friend
that was always there. We weren't competitive, but we love to,
you know, be sporty and run around. We used to
go out on the street and race each other to
you know, past the time, and that was that was
what entertained us as as young as six, and you know,
(05:56):
we wouldn't be on the street at that age, but
you know, we'd be playing and compete, and that's when
we kind of started our journey and athletics. But we
grew up in our house. A small house is a
two bedroom place. It's called housing commissioner government housing. So
I actually grew up in a place like that where
it was me, my brother, younger sister, my younger brother,
and my older brother, which we grew up together. We
(06:16):
shared a room, my parents obviously in the other room,
so it's very small and we didn't have a lot,
but we had to use our imagination to entertain ourselves.
And we weren't very watuate in the sense of, you know,
material things, but we were gifted in the art of
sport and energy, so I guess we had to turn
that into something. So sport was our outlet, and then
it ended up becoming dance through the journey. So yeah,
(06:38):
in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Wow, I love starting back at this earlier part of
people's lives because I think, you know, when you google
you it's not this kind of stuff that comes up,
but it's hearing about people's beginnings, which are often much
more humble than you might expect when you look at
the chapter there and now, which is often when we
meet you, I bet you never expected that you'd end
up being, you know, the global sensation that you've become.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, I know, and I guess, you know, growing up
in those circumstances, you only kind of get exposed to
what you see on TV and being surrounded by kind
of similar people, and you do get kind of put
in in a bubble. They say, you know, you've got
to kind of work, or you've got to study, and
you've got to do all these things, which is kind
of a general consensus where if you know, study get opportunities.
(07:20):
But you know, I went to a public school. We
didn't have those kind of opportunities. And also you know,
the financial backing to kind of take risks and all
that stuff. So I guess we had each other. But
I'm very grateful for that now, and I kind of
look back when I look at my childhood, it was great.
I had a lot of fun, but you know the
standard of what I thought was fun was was very low,
so that anything that I'm doing now it's I'm succeeding,
(07:40):
and I feel like I'm truly happy for what I
do today, and I'm very grateful to be in the
Wiggles and to be able to perform and do music.
But I think I'm not saying that's the definition of
true happiness. But you know, my blueprint of what a
perfect life was was that, and I think there's nothing
wrong with that. And it was a great at a
great time. But you know, there's a lot more out there,
and there's a lot of opportunities to be had, and
I'm very grateful to be where I am today, and
(08:02):
I'm for my childhood and the way I was raised.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I think there's an art to parenting in a way
that your children believe that what your means are able
to create for them is the best. Like I love
that you had no consciousness that it was more or
less than anyone else. You just had a great time.
And I think that's really special that you had a
childhood like that.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah. Yeah, I hope everyone does have a good childhood,
but everyone's story is unique and different, and I think
that's part of my story. And I was never really
I was kind of always embarrassed to talk about, you know,
growing up in housing commission and not having much and
getting my mom to write a letter to school to
see if one of us can get exempt from school fees,
which is only two hundred and fifty dollars or something
whatever that was. But they were always supportive in that sense.
(08:44):
But now that I look back and I feel like,
you know, it's okay to talk about that, and it's
you should be proud of your story no matter what
it is.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It's also amazing to talk about it because there would
be other kids now who are listening and trying to
form their pathway and what as you said, like pople
can't believe they can do something unless they see it,
unless it's visible, and so seeing you having made that
leave in your career makes other kids believe that they
could also kind of outgrow their circumstances.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, and there's always hope and if you if you
want something in your dream enough, you got a dream
big and with justice screw we always stood for. That
was our quote was to dream big and no matter
what dream it is, it's if you believe it, you
can achieve it. So you just got to work hard
and get around the right people and just you know,
have hope.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. Absolutely, Okay, So there was a whole career before
the chapter that you're in right now, and then I
was also reading you went down an academic pathway there
for a while, doing a Bachelor of Science and a
diploma in nutrition, and then that led you to working
as a pt and there was a stint on Australia
Need You Worry You? So? Where did that sit alongside
(09:49):
Justice Crew? And how did I mean, how did you
go from that back to music and entertainment? How did
it all happen?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Where did that fall into the story. Yes, so me
and my brother. I always bring my brother because you know,
we're twins and we did everything together. But if I
just assumed that he's part of my story. We did sports.
That was our way of kind of finding our place.
We were fast runners. We felt like we were naturally quick,
and you know, we played sports and I felt like, yeah,
we're good at that, and that was kind of People
would love to see us race each other and you know,
(10:16):
win races, which was really cool. And you know, through
school we did a bit of training. Outside of school.
We were very successful in the athletics scene. I would say,
you know, making a state at a national level through
high school was an achievement for us and we weren't
bringing no money, but we were bringing the gold medalsil metals
that that was good enough. And you know, through training,
when we used to train, we used to do you know,
(10:37):
sports like long jarm, triple jump, high jump, and you
know with high jump, there were these mats that you
could learn to do backflips and front flips on too,
So we used to do that at training, and we
used to try to just flip our bodies around and
that's something we did because we had a lot of energy,
and that kind of opened us up to the idea
of you know, breakdancing and dancing. And our older brother
(10:57):
who is full Filipino by the way, it's on my
mom's had a son before she had me and my brother,
so we had an older brother that was full Filipino
that was always dancing and would always pull us in
the room and get us to learn these dance routines
that we didn't really we weren't really interested in at
the time. You know, this is early high school, and
I think we didn't realize that that was kind of
(11:18):
opening us up, like introducing us to the idea of
dance and break dance and performance. So that was kind
of the way we kind of got into Justice Crew.
At high school, we formed a group we were called
the Athletes.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I was going to say the athletes.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
We all loved sports, but we were a group of
friends and we all kind of did different sports like rugby, athletics, soccer,
you know, and we also love dance. So we started
learning dance through lunch breaks. We weren't out, you know,
we're having lunch, but we went into the theaterret at
school and we taught each other and we started putting
together dance routines just for the fun of it, and
(11:54):
we used to you know, film it and make the
mixes ourselves. And we actually ended a competition outside of
school that we were like, you know, I think we're
good enough to go into a dance competition we called Groove,
which is that Blacktown and you can kind of enter
and put there's battlegrounds and things like that where you compete,
and that was kind of the first introduction to dancing
for us. And we did it for fun, for a
(12:16):
bit of a laugh and yeah, so that was the
first performance that we kind of did from school. So
about year nine year tenant school.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I had no idea that you guys just self taught
in your lunch breaks and then went on to become.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
That's what we did. That's how it started. And I
think from that because we didn't take we took it seriously,
but not that serious that it was consuming our whole life.
But we did it because we loved it. And we
met another group at this competition. They were called Psalms
and they were break dancers. So me and my brother
and this group called Psalms we formed Justice Crew and
that's where we kind of connected and we started a
(12:50):
new group from that because we kind of you know,
we built a relationship and friendship from this, and that's
where Justice Screw was born.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I mean, that's such an incredible story because I'm sure
there are a lot of kids who kind of get
together with their friends and like anyone who's creative, we all,
you know, I was a dancer as well, and I've
done but jillion concerts for half my neighborhood, and you know,
that's part of it, is like teaching yourself routines and
kind of performing. But not many people go on from
that structure and just playing around and enjoying themselves to
(13:19):
like aria chart topping songs, Top ten singles, ARIA Award nominations,
and to like a full time career. So what do
you think was the difference for you? And what happened
to your nutrition Sports Science PT career alongside that?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Like that came in a bit later.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Okay, so another whole chapter's.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yea, So I'm trying to narrow it down. Like as
much as I don't like to talk, I've always got
a lot. There's a lot of story in there, but
I kind of skip past and I kind of jump
through just to kind of make it as relative as
possibly you can kind of keep interested. But so basically
after we formed Justice Group, this was kind of leading
up to after school, so we formed this new group
called Justice Crew, which we ended up going to Las
(13:58):
Vegas to compete the World Hip Hop Chaps because we
wanted to kind of you know, put ourselves on a
big platform. So like being self taught and going into that,
I think we didn't have that pressure to feel like
we needed to do something because we kind of did
it because we loved it, and there was no standard
I think on our end to say, you know, we've
(14:19):
got to complete the Olympics. So if we don't achieve this,
our life's over. We just kind of enjoyed it. And
I think our group of friends were like minded and
we're all self taught, so I felt like there was
no expectation on our side of things. But we were
just opened to every opportunity that came our way, and
we just kind of seized it and just went full
blasts with it. And I think one story went to another.
So we start off as a high school group, which
(14:41):
formed into us a group outside of school, which we
ended up going to Australia's Got Talent. Thank you to
my mom because she saw an advertisement saying you can
win two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and we were just,
you know, busking at the time and she said, you
guys should go on this TV show. You could win
some money. You bring home, bring some money. So, you know,
we did Australia's Got and.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You Want It just quietly for everyone.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
We didn't think we were going to win it. We
just wanted to go on TV and do something. But
you know, I think the more we did the show,
more we started to believe that we could be a
contender to win, and which we did win, and then
you know, from that Sony Music, you know, approached us
and said, do you guys do music? And we said, no,
we just dance or we busk. And then we kind
of spoke to a few of the guys there and
they said, what if you guys dance to your own
(15:24):
music in your own music videos? How can will that be?
And we said, you know, let's do it. You know,
we didn't have the experience behind us. Well, we love
to do things and take an opportunity. So we ended
up getting signed to Sony Music to film a documentary
to lead us to get into studio to work with
the best writers and best songwriters and producers to start
writing our own music, and we started making our own
(15:45):
hit songs, and a few hit songs later, we've got
nominations and you know, number one songs with Bum and
case Rah and touring America with Pitbull and Kesher and
Chris Brown and all these big artists.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Wild journey, Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
A long journey. But you know, I think that the
moral of the story is, you know, the opportunities are,
They're all around, and I think just being open minded
and just seizing each moment and not thinking too much
of it and just kind of taking it and just
you know, as long as you enjoy it, there's always
something that comes of it. And it's not really obvious sometimes,
but what the end goal is.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Oh absolutely, I love that so much because I think
there's a lot of we just put so much pressure
on ourselves to find our passion and be the best
and attain success and fulfillment in life. And it's really interesting.
You are probably one of the first people I've heard
who's had the level of success that you have in
such a competitive industry, Like, not many people actually can
make careers of the arts, and a lot of people's
(16:40):
families kind of dissuade them from doing music and dance
because you can't make a career of it. It's too hard, And.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, it's very difficult.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, it's rare that someone does get to where you've
gotten without waking up when they're five and going I
want to be that person. I love that it was
almost by accident, like you didn't put pressure on yourself.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It definitely was. Yeah, I think there's nothing wrong with
dreaming big at a young age. I think I actually
wanted to be a construction I've actually got an audio
tape of me in kindergarten saying I want to build
houses when I'm older, and that's totally the opposite of
what I'm doing now. And if I think, if I
could tell my younger self, you know, you're going to
be in the Wiggles. You're watching the Wiggles now, you're
going to be Yeah, but I think you're following your
journey because as you grow and develop and you see things,
(17:20):
you meet people, your idea of success changes, and what
your goal was can also change and evolve. And you know,
even through Justice Crew, I started getting into fitness and
personal training and nutrition. I think being exposed to all
that and meeting people and then social media and then
all the rubbish that's out there, you kind of want
to learn what's true and what's false. So I think
(17:41):
that's where I started doing fitness and then learning nutrition
and then learning from the experts, and then you know,
studying clinical nutrition.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Oh so that came totally after Justice Crew, like completely.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
After that was a little bit later. Yeah, So after
performing and touring, it kind of like I wanted to
have something that I can sort of control too that
I love to do something for myself. Because we were performing,
writing music with a group of guys. You know, everyone
has their own little outlets after that to have their
own things. So fitness was something that I was always
passionate about and I want to kind of learn nutrition,
(18:11):
and I started personal training on the side for a
little bit to kind of take my mind off touring
and music because I want to kind of do this
for a little bit. And that was kind of cool
to be able to find the time after touring started
slow down a little bit towards you know, later twenty seventeen,
twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, and that that's where I started
doing personal training and the nutrition coaching as well, before
I met Anthony.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Is that how that happened? Okay, oh my gosh. So again,
obviously wasn't a lifelong dream to become a wiggle And
then you've gone from a very sort of media, you know,
entertainment industry, kind of away from that and then back
into it. So how did that all happen?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I think, like, I believe in the power of the universe,
so I think the things are supposed to happen for you.
It's supposed to be like that. So I kind of
pulled back from the media and touring because we've been
doing that since high school. It's all I've kind of known.
I've never been in the workforce working nine to five
and you know, just just working it and just getting
a salary or whatever. I always wanted to do that
because I didn't get to do that. So I think
(19:10):
there was a part of me that wanted to just
be regular. I just want to work and just.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Just like wear a suit and just sit at.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
A dance exactly. So I thought, you know, peting and
something that I could just kind of go, you know,
just be a real person. And even like the way
I got my clients and stuff like that, I didn't
advertise from my social media platforms. It was kind of
a bit anonymous, and no one really knew that I
was in Justice Schreum until I started training with me
and recognized me when they met me in person. So
I think that was kind of an organic way to
(19:36):
just work a bit. So I actually reached out to
Anthony for the first time after I got married. We
moved into Gladesville and Anthony lives down the road, which
I didn't know until we bumped into him and we
got to chatting. And obviously I know who Anthony is
and everyone does when you see him. And you know,
we got to chatting just before COVID. You know, I
reached out and I said, you know, if you need
a training partner, I'm peeting, so let me know you're
(19:59):
up the road. I know you love a bit of fitness,
and that kind of opened up the conversation between us
through social media. And yeah, one conversation led to an
invitation to wiggles HQ to work on a project.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
That is absolutely wild.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
It is wild and it is so cool. By the way,
he's the coolest guy. You're mate, if you get the
chab you met Anthony before?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I haven't, No, I mean obviously have watched in my
entire life, but I've never had the chance to meet him.
But he seems like just an absolute legend.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Is of course? Yeah, is there a legend? Is the course?
Go You're meet and yeah, it gives everyone opportunities. I'm
super grateful that is, you know, give me the chance
to get back on stage and perform and travel and
to the world and now make a lot of children happy. Yeah,
my parents too.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah. Well, I just love that you mentioned that you
trust the universe, because I think sometimes when people go
through the chronological order of sort of their life. There's
a lot of goal set for this, and then I
worked really hard and then I positioned myself here and
I studied for this, and then there's sort of conversations
about luck and timing and stuff. But I just love
that sometimes it is just about trusting that you'll move
(21:02):
into the house that's three doors down from the person
you needed to meet, Like you just know, you never
know what's around the corner, and that's the beauty of it.
Sometimes we overplan everything exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I think everything happens for a reason, and sometimes
you find a roadblock in life, like if you tried
to move somewhere, or you tried to get that job
but you didn't and something failed. I think that's all
supposed to happen, and you only kind of realize when
you look back. You realize that's why I did that,
That's why that happened, and this is why this happened,
and that's why I'm here today. So I think everything
is supposed to happen the way. So thank you universe
(21:34):
looking out for me, my spiritual guide.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
So before we get into what life as a wiggle,
you know, looks like and everyone watches you guys from
like the finished product, but I'd love to hear a
little bit more about what it looks like behind their scenes.
And as you're preparing to become a parent, it's such
an exciting time in your life. But just going back
to the idea that you know, now it's a lot better,
and I'm sure the landscape has improved a lot, but
(21:59):
sort of you Justice Krue was on Australia It's Got
Talent around twenty ten and that was a very different
time in the landscape. There were you know, not as
many diverse faces on our TVs competing in competitions, not
just reality TV but all media. I feel like representation
for not just Asian Australians, but all cultures was a
lot less of a priority in the media. What has
(22:21):
your experience been from that perspective as an Asian Australian
in the media and in this industry, and you know
that spanned decades as well, You've kind of been there
over a time where it's changed. But even back in childhood,
have you ever experienced any racism? Were you ever bullied
in that sense? Because I think it's just as important
to talk about the barriers and the challenges we face
(22:42):
on our journeys as it is the good times when
things go well.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I think going back to, you know, my childhood, having
those real low expectations and kind of growing up with
brothers and sisters, and I had a twin brother there
all the time, so I always had someone that looked
like me. Yeah, almost too much like me. But you know,
you're going through school, like I think, because twins were,
I felt like they weren't as common or especially where
I grew up, so going to school, even in KINDI one,
(23:08):
you two, we were like everyone wants to play with
the twins.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
And we were kind of like you're a novelty.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
We were a bit like a novelty. So I felt
like we were almost different in a sense because we
were twins already that we almost were that novelty. But
as I said, like I had a great time growing up,
Like I didn't get experience bullying. I don't really look
like a typical, you know, like a minority in any sense,
because like people will look at me today and think,
I don't know where you're from, or they didn't realize
(23:34):
that I'm Filipino. Me and my brother were so proud
to be Filipino. Like growing up, we had such a
good relationship with our aunties and our family, and we
just we wanted to almost be more of the minority
side of it because it just felt like it was
a bit different. Like it was like my first tatoe
was like the Filipino son. So I drew that myself
and I got that tattooed on there. Oh you know,
(23:56):
a tatto on my chest that says money while I
which means believe. And I think this. I don't know
if it's something maybe my mom did or my older
brother who was out something was like our idol growing up,
and to see him, he's pretty dark, so he's he'd
be considered a black Philippine. He caught himself Blazian. I
don't know if that's a real turn, but he's, you know,
growing up like and that was our idol, and I
(24:16):
felt like someone like that was, you know, I would say,
he's kind of a dark Asian with someone that we
want to be. And I think for me and my brother,
we always we want to dance like him, we wanted
to rap like him, we want to go to the gym.
It'd be big like him and his friends that that
was something that we looked up to, and I feel
like we felt a sense of belonging in that and
because we had sports, I think sports really also helped
(24:38):
us fit in in a way that kind of made us,
you know, not like we're good at sports, so you
can't bully us. So I don't know, it just felt
like we had that, you know, I don't know, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I think, you know, sport is such a great leveler
and can transcend other differences that might otherwise kind of
act as more of a division between people. It's such
a uniting thing.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Just want to look back at it. I think, you know,
I think it was probably more of the sense of
like how circumstance was, you know, because we were considered poor.
I think that was probably more of the part that
we kind of hit from a lot of people that
we didn't really kind of advertise that, you know, we
had to eat you know, meat pires that were like
you buy a pack for two dollars, then we just
had to heat that up and we just brought that
for lunch. And I think like that was kind of
(25:21):
something that we weren't too proud of. But now that
I'll look back, you know, be proud of it. Little Johnny. Yeah,
it's just who cares like, you know, but it's just
at that time you think of it, you didn't bring
people over to your house or you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, it's so interesting and I'm so it's so great
to hear that you didn't experience any racism in your
school years or or sort of along the way. Would
you say, has your cultural heritage ever been an obstacle
in terms of your career? Has it ever been something
that stopped you getting an opportunity?
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Do you think if I was to just be honest,
I think because we didn't look like typical like you know,
people didn't know where we were from that would just
see us, you know, like me and my brother, like
even Laven today, I don't really get that people would
say you're Filipino.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yeah already I would.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Have to say it, like because you know, like sharing
my mom through my social platforms kind of allowed I
didn't want to say everyone, look I'm yeah. I thought
like if you just say, if you saw my mom
and how we grew up and this was what was
looking after us and raising us, like we grew up
like you know, in the Filippino household, which is how there,
So I think having that, yeah, that was our experience.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, it's really interesting. My husband is half Singaporean and
he's very similar to you. He looks sort off, you
can't tell in Italy, he looks Italian in like the
Middle East, he looks Middle Eastern like, he's quiet. It's
only like Singaporean women who go, I know you're half Singaporean,
but most people can't tell. And so yeah, he's found
that he hasn't experienced any sort of racial discrimination in
(26:54):
his older age, but when he was younger, he looked
a lot more Asian and he grew up in country Tazzy,
so's a lot less multicultural back then. So he found
more in childhood, but now not so much, which is yeah,
which is fascinating. So the Wiggles chapter, So since twenty
twenty one, you have been a purple Wiggle. What is
it like? What is it like knowing that you were
(27:15):
gracing the households of an entire nation and overseas and
bringing joy to like a younger generation.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, it's a really cool job. Like I'm actually like
so proud and so privileged and grateful, to be able
to call myself a Wiggle And I think growing up
with the Wiggles, you just you see them as you know,
they're international stars. This is this is like the Beatles
for children or you know, this is like everybody knows
the Wiggles.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
You are literally the Beatles for children. That is literally
what you are.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, and it's still bizarre to me, but it feels
like the coolest job in the world. And you know,
I would walk around and almost feel like Clark Kent,
like when you see little kids and stuff walking with
their parents you think like, oh, I have no idea
like that. I'm like, I'm like Superman like undercover, like
because I'm kind of in disguise when I'm not wearing
like purple outfits. But it's the coolest job in the world.
And to be able to bring joy to families and
(28:02):
write music and be able to perform and you know,
it's bizarre and totally grateful for it. Love it. It's indescribable.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
It's really cool that you mentioned you wanted to be
a power Ranger when you were younger, which was like
a superhero based on a color, which is kind of
what the Wiggles are. You're a superhero based on a color.
I know you kind of did end up getting there,
and I think that's what goes through my head.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
You know, we get to play ourselves as the Wiggles
and that's the cool part about you know, like Anthony
and the guys there, and they kind of bring out
your personality through your character and I'm not playing like
big strong John. It's like, I love my fitness, I
love nutrition, I love to be athletic. So that's my
personality showing through my character. And I think it's almost
an essense of a power ranger or a superhero, and
(28:43):
I think that's what I'm kind of trying to portray
through a Wiggles character. Even though the Wiggles were the
you know, Greg Murray, Jeff Anthony, directly, Donalds or that's
what I grew up with, it's a different area and
now as a diverse wigl so it's a bit different.
The next generation are growing up watching the current Wiggles
as their original Wigel. So if you look at it
like that doesn't feel as imposter syndrome as what I felt.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, so what would your day look like? Like? Do
you guys, how much do you rehearse together. How much
you do you Yeah, you mentioned you're writing music when
you're writing songs together? And is always all of the
Wiggles together or do you go off and do some
solo things like I often see you with Sahai and
like you're doing things kind of in groups. How does
it all work? And do you ever get days off?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, we definitely get days off. I think that's important
in any role. But you know, this job, you'd call
it a job, you call it a do you just
become a wiggless But you know, a day in the life,
it's always different. There's no two days the same. If
we're not touring and traveling, we're in the studio and
we're writing music, we're recording music, or we're filming TV series,
or we're filming social media TikTok or Instagram videos. But
(29:49):
there's always something going on. And for example, today I'm
not in Wiggle down today, I'm heading off to Canberra
for some shows tomorrow, risking there. Hopefully my wife doesn't
for you know, give it doesn't break over a night.
But you know, like in no two days are the same.
So if we're not traveling, we're in the studio or
you know, we're doing different projects. We're always working on
(30:10):
a different project every day. Yeah, So before I joined
the Whigs in I'd always wonder what they'd be doing
on a daily basis, Like you'd watch them on YouTube
on ABC and you'd see the shows and you'd see
them touring, but you wonder what the day in the
life of was like. And now I kind of get
to see firsthand what goes on. And there's always something
happening and it's it was like chaos, but it's like
(30:30):
a controlled chaos, and there's always something. There's like someone
coming in asking for this, and someone can you come
and do this quickly? And then we've got to quickly
write this. And now we've got a new album that's
seen this, and now we've got to get this done.
But we'll stop that, but we'll go into the studio
and we'll film this on green screen and we've got
to put you know, film this TV show. And now
we've got this guest coming in and we're going to
film with this person. Now we're off to Melbourne tomorrow
(30:51):
to do you know, it's just always something like that
and it's not crazy, but it's crazy good love. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I mean that's was kind of why it was such
a big question for me, because I think there are
so many people listening who feel like they know you,
Like you're in our houses and we spend so much
time watching you perform. We know your body language and
we know like, yeah, parts of your persona. But it
is kind of like, well, what are you guys doing
in between? Yeah, you're rocking around in your purple outfit,
Like do you have other clothes?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
You know, I know, there's a lot going on, and
it takes a while, you know, to put all these
things together. And this year we put I think we
had nearly forty hours of content. We had to write, record,
and film them all, and that's like a lot of planning.
In some days we'd get through, Like when I was
in Just Screw, we'd take a day or two to
film a video clip for a song. We're at the Wiggles,
(31:38):
who might film eight video clips recorded and filmed, and
we'd choreograph on the spot. So when the cameras all
set up, we're in the where we're going to film it,
and we're going, this is what we're going to do,
and we'll do this. It's almost like filming a TikTok.
You're kind of work it out there in that ten
minutes you've got and then okay, we'll go and then
we'll go for a take, and then we're going for
a close up and that song's done, and like half
(32:00):
an hour, oh, prefare the next one, and just we
just keep going through songs like that just so quick
you learn to learn something and forget it and just
keep going.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
You wouldn't kind of sit on it for oh my gosh,
everything you watch on TV, it's like done there and
then then planned on the day, So whatever you're thinking
on the day, it's very freshly creative.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Oh wow, I didn't know that you guys like choreograph
on the spot and that it wasn't all completely planned
out for you already.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Like there is a bit of planning and you know
the shots are got to do and how going to
do it. But they're definitely the dancing and the in
the structure and everything that you see, even what we're
wearing is kind of on the floor.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
What's amazing. Oh wow, I love that. I love that
you get so much like creativity in the role.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, it's definitely because creativity. It can be creative, but
a lot of creativity just comes to you. When it
comes to you. Ideas just appear. You can't overthink something
too much. I think it's just has to be a natural,
especially with creativity.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
I don't know what do you make of I think
it was like around twenty twenty three, what are you
and Jesse, your beautiful wife and soon to be baby mama?
What do you guys make of you becoming the sexy
wiggle that now? Like I was watching an American TikTok
the other day, just out of the blue, like didn't
even hadn't googled or anything, and it was this whole
bit about how this guy comes downstairs and the Wiggles
(33:14):
are on and he's like, yeah, it's on like seven
different platforms, and I was like, oh my god, that's John.
It was like totally unrelated to anything Australian, and it
just it was like, yeah, he comes downstairs and his
wife is suddenly watching the Wiggles a lot. Does it
blow your mind? How do you guys feel about it? It
must be such a weird feeling.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
It's definitely wild. Like I don't know how to feel
about it. I guess the Internet can turn anything into
something totally and you just got to kind of embrace it.
And it is kind of cool. And I think these people,
a lot of the Americans, especially those videos that come
out of America, they grew up watching The Wiggles, and
they know the Wiggles as the original guys right back
in the nineties early two thousand and then when they
(33:53):
see and think Wiggle and they see my face and
they see my tattoos out and they're thinking, well, what's
going on here? And I think it's intriguing for a
lot of people. And that's kind of what I make
of it. It's definitely very interesting, and I guess it
just reminds everybody and the Wiggles are still here.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, we're evolving, We're modern.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, we're evolving, you exactly. And I think it's kind
of cool. And it's reaching a different demographic a lot
of them that definitely they've got families and kids of
their own, or most of them do, or they will want.
So I think it's a positive thing and it's going
to spread more good quality entertainment and education out there because,
you know, the Wiggles, that's what we love. The Wiggles
for been around for thirty two years, providing good quality entertainment,
(34:33):
and I think that's what we love. And I'm going
to be, you know, putting my child in front of
the Whigls.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Oh my gosh, I know, I can't even imagine what
it must feel like having grown up with the Wiggles.
Knowing that you're going to have a child who will
grow up with watching you as a wiggle That's so cool.
But that kind of makes me think of Obviously, I
think we in the old school days, we think of
the Wiggles as just like you know, hot potato like
songs for children to keep them entertained. But I think
(34:57):
social media has allowed you all to become characters that
lend your voices to lots of different things that you
want to teach the leaders of tomorrow, Like you can
all be passionate about things other than just music and
song and dance. And yeah, I think it's beautiful that
social media allows you to have your personas outside of
just the Wiggles content. And one of the things that
I've been reading about is that you've got an amazing
(35:19):
partnership with Hello Fresh. So Nick and I've been Hello
Fresh customers for many years. It's not only been really convenient,
very time saving, particularly since having a child, like it's
you'll appreciate it a million times more. But one of
the things you've been working on is this crazy problem
that we have in Australia with waste that we've been producing.
(35:39):
I think it's like seven point six million tons of
food waste. You know, that's just one of the messages
that you've been lending your voice to teaching kids earlier
about better waste habits. So can you tell us a
bit about the partnership that you have and all the
you know, the online resources that you've been making aren't
just Wiggles but also climate.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Superstars, still helping children. But you know, like me and
Jess have been using heather Fresh for a while and
it's like it's something. When we got married, we moved
in and like most young people go, you know, we
were going to cook every single night, and we're gonna
we're going to host dinner parties and do everything. And
we soon, like not that long after that, we realized
we started cooking the same things, and we started getting lazy,
(36:17):
and we started buying lots of ingredients and doing all
this stuff and stocking our pantry and a lot of
it did go to waste. And you know, we did
find HelloFresh not that long after that, and we thought,
you know, this is exactly what we wanted. We wanted
something that was easy to follow, It was healthy, We
felt like we were cooking it, we were also learning,
and everything was like pre portion. Everything we opened up
was just like you just use that whole thing. You
(36:39):
put that whole thing, and you just cut that whole
banana up, or you cut that whole sweet potato. And
we thought there was like you know, managing all the
waste and we weren't throwing away a lot and it
was just everything went out one bag and we threw
it out and it was easy and it felt like
We love HelloFresh And I think as soon as Hellafresh
reached out recently and said, you know, we're going to
put together this Climate Superstars camp with Cool Bean's Academy
(36:59):
and we want to help you know ed you gate
parents and children about you know, food sustainability, like would
you be on board? And I was just like, of course,
I'm working with children, you know, I love Hello Fresh?
Why not? So it just felt natural. It was a fun, little,
fun little day of filming creating you know, resources that
parents can use that teach you about how you can
use leftovers and make art out of different you can
(37:22):
use tumeric to paint pictures and things like that, and
freezing your food. So there was a fun day and
you know, there's a whole bunch of resource booklet that
you can download on on the hell of Fresh website.
So it was something fun to do and something that
I felt, you know, why waste food? My mum's from
the Philippines when we went over there, and if they
found out that nearly every Australian was throwing away five
hundred dollars worth of food every year just because it
(37:45):
was the leftover or it was just overused, oh my gosh,
like you wouldn't understand. We went over there and we
shared like biscuits and stuff and then save like at
one point two five litter coke for special guests and
we're just you know, pouring it on the floor, just
no electricity, just sharing that. So I think when you
put into context in that sense, it's so important in
a country like Australia, especially where we're we've got abundance
(38:07):
of food and options and things like that. You just
it's good to think twice and educate the next generation too, hopefully,
you know, don't waste food. It's people really value it
in some countries.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yeah, it's crazy that that's statistic about the five hundred dollars.
I was quite surprised, and it's amazing to see that
you've been able to use your platform for the messages
that now you know will also be for the future
of your little one. How are you feeling about being
a dad? Do you have everything set up?
Speaker 1 (38:31):
I can't wait. We've got the nursery set up. Even
though we're not using the nursery for you'd probably know,
like you don't use that much a year, it'd be sleeping,
very sleeping. But you know, we're excited. We're so pumped
and just as healthy. That's the main thing. And you know,
it's looking to be a big baby.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Out of that.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
The measurements are getting the seventy percent of you know,
it's and just as like since she's quite little, but
you know, she's confident. She can't wait, she almost she
tells me she can't wait to feel labor. She just
like wants to just feel it.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah, Wow, what a weapon.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
No, she says that now she's a strong girl, and
I think she'll probably manage it. She's got a good
pain threshold. But you know, you'd probably know. I don't
know if you did, what your process was and how
you manage it all. But everybody says it's a day
to remember, and you know, we're definitely excited and grateful
to be here and expecting our first little boy.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Oh it's a little boy.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Oh congratcha, Yeah, we can't wait.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Oh, little boys are the best. They're just it will
absolutely rock your world in the best way possible. It's
like the hardest and best thing you'll ever do. And
it's funny. I think you will go back and listen
to conversations. You'll listen and watch TV and watch snippets
of you and the person you are before your child,
and you won't recognize that person once he arrives. It's
(39:47):
just like you can't imagine a world without them. It's
so interesting. I can't wait. I'm so excited for you.
It's really special time.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
I'm so excited. Yeah. I was saying to Jess this morning,
we're walking and I was saying, you know, like inn
lesson to weeks, like we're going to have another person here.
We've been thinking about it for a long time, you know,
going to the old pregnancy. We feel like it's in
the future, but it's actually so close that our life
is about to change for the better. And just yeah,
we're so ready. We couldn't be more pumped. But you know,
I'm ready for the sleepless nights and the dad bring
(40:17):
it on.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah, oh my god, you can't get it. You're the
thirsty wiggle like you can't get a dad bond mate.
That's not good for your image.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I think I think the big Strong John title is
a blessing in disguise. I'm meant to stick to, you know,
keeps you accountable. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Are you taking any time off? Are you taking any leave?
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Yeah, like all the necessary time required, and that it's
such a good team at the Whigs. They're just you know,
they're super supportive. And whatever time I need to take,
it's it's quiet a time this time of the year.
You know, we've got a few shows the Cows and
Domain and there's I think our last show is just
before Christmas time. So whatever time I need to take,
I wanted to take it like at least two weeks
off minimum to be there for just and you know,
support and be a dad and just be there in
(40:59):
the first few moments. So I'll definitely take that time
to you know, really embrace fatherhood parenthood.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Oh well, congratulations. I'm so excited. I was about to say,
what's next for you, but I mean, obviously parenthood is
the next chapter and that kind of takes up a
lot of a lot of energy, mental energy, physical energy.
And how exciting to have a little one for Christmas.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I know, we can't wait. We've got little stockings already
with his name embroidered on there, which we won't announce yet,
but we've ordered them.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
You've chosen. Oh my gosh, ah, that's so special. Well,
it'll be a magical time ahead for you guys, and
my love to Jesse as well. And thank you so
much for the chat and for the joy that I
know you will bring. I mean, Teddy, as I said,
isn't quite wiggles obsessed just yet. But the minute it happens,
I'm going to text you and just be like any
thank you for the public service that you guys do
(41:45):
for parents and families everywhere.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Sarah when Teddy's old enough, you know it can be
having played theres with our little son together.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Oh, I mean, obviously he can get lots of use
out of this purple jumper.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Yeah, got a good year and a half left to
grow into that for growth out of it stretch.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Oh, John, thank you so much, and I'm congratulations.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
No worries, Thank you, Thanks for having me. This is fun.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Well, Teddy hasn't quite entered his Wiggles era just yet,
but I'm sure there will be so much Wiggles action
going on in our household before we even know it.
He looked so cute in his little purple suit. I
don't know if you guys saw it on Socials, but
we sent John a little photo and oh my goodness,
it was so cute. It's been such a wild but
wonderful year, and John has so much to look forward
to when he becomes a parent imminently at any moment. Now,
(42:35):
what an amazing way to finish off a fabulous year.
It's been such a rollercoaster. We slowed down when Teddie
was born. We've now built up to some wonderful momentum.
It's so nice to be back, and I hope you
guys have enjoyed some of the fabulous guests we've had
over the past couple of weeks. If you do want
to follow along more of what John's doing, if you
don't already, I'm sure many of you already do. His
(42:55):
Wiggles page is at John Underscore Wiggle. His personal page
is at John Pierce, or of course you can follow
the Wiggles. There's also the Wiggle Talk podcast. And we
did also cover the incredible service that is HelloFresh that
is just so game changing when you're time for and
tired but still want to eat really well and you know,
really reduce your wastage when you're preparing food at home.
(43:18):
So I'll include the link to that as well in
the show notes. In the meantime, Oh my gosh, I
can't believe the next time that we're back it will
be twenty twenty five. That sounds so crazy and foreign
and exciting and amazing. At some point we will do
a year rap or a news Resolutions episode with the
big news that came from and I'm not sure when
that will be, but we will get it in your
ears eventually. We're taking a two week break just to
(43:42):
give your ears a little rest and recoup, spend some
time with the family, enjoy the festive season. I hope
you guys have a wonderful festive season and New Year,
no matter how you choose to spend it or what
you choose to celebrate. And I hope that over the
next couple of weeks you are seizing your yay we
will be back next year.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
St.
And obviously I know who Anthony is and everyone does
when you see him. And I said, you know, if
you need a training partner, I'm peteing, so let me
know you're up the road. I know you love a
bit of fitness, and that kind of opened up the
conversation between us through social media, and yeah, one conversation
led to an invitation to Wiggle's HQ to work on
a project. I think everything happens for a reason. Then
sometimes you find a roadblock in life. I think that's
(00:21):
all supposed to happen, and you only kind of realize
when you look back. That's why I did that, That's
why that happened, and this is why this happened.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
These are the yays of our lives. Busy and happy
are not the same thing. We too rarely question what
makes the heart seeing. We work, then we rest, but
rarely we play and often don't realize there's more than
one way. So this is a platform to hear and
explore the stories of those who found lives. They adore
the good, bad and ugly. The best and worst day
(00:50):
will bear all the facets of seizing your yay. I'm
Sarah Davidson or a spoonful of Sarah, a lawyer turned
entrepreneur who's wap the suit and heels to co found
matcha Maiden and matcha Milk Bark CZA is a series
of conversations on finding a life you love and exploring
the self doubt, challenge, joy and fulfillment along the way.
(01:15):
Whether you are a child, have a child, or have
ever met a single child, you will undoubtedly know of
the Wiggles, and not just at home here in Australia.
They've also captured the hearts of families around the world
since they're beginning back in nineteen ninety one. Speaking of
capturing hearts, though in their latest evolution with eight wonderful members,
one particular Wiggle has shot to global fame as the
(01:37):
Sexy Wiggle or officially as Big Strong John, and we
are so lucky to have him here with us today.
Like many of our guests, you'll probably have seen John
Pierce many times either with The Wiggles or on his
own very busy socials before hearing him today without knowing
much of what came before his chapter in the Purple Suit.
My favorite part of this show is getting to know
(01:57):
the person behind the scenes and you may not have
known that John was a member of the Justice Crew beforehand,
creating a very different kind of music to that which
he creates today. That he was a member of said
Justice Crew alongside his twin one of seven siblings, That
his original career ambitions were in sport and nutrition, with
(02:19):
a previous appearance on Australian Ninja Warrior and a career
in personal training, or that at any moment now in fact,
could be Right now as I record this, he is
about to become a father for the first time with
his beautiful wife Jesse expecting. I had read so much
about John, but knew nothing about his upbringing either, and
the amazing journey from commission Housing to global superstar while
(02:42):
keeping such a level, humble head on his shoulders. I
hope you guys enjoy finding a little bit more about
the purple Wiggle as I did. John Pierce, Welcome to
the show.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Oh thanks for having me. This is great. I feel
like we're color coordinating to the microphone jacket.
Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, but big missed opportunity by us. For those listening,
we are matching, but not in the color purple, Like,
how did that happen?
Speaker 1 (03:05):
I know it's one of my favorite colors. Well, you know,
it's a different day today. I've got to save that
for tomorrow's show.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Well, I was going to have I've got a little
eight month old son and he was going to be
waiting for you when he came on to record in
this little MIDI purple wiggle outfit.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
That I wow, how cool.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
But he ended up having a nap and you'll soon
learn becoming a dad in a couple of weeks how
important nap times are. But maybe he can put it
on at the end.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Okay, what's his name?
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Teddy?
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Oh? Teddy? Oh, how cute? Awesome? Love the meeting one day.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Yeah, he's such a little sweetheart. I'm sure in no
time he will be absolutely obsessed with all things Wiggles.
He hasn't quite discovered TV. He loves music. Still young, right,
He's still a bit young. But I know the time
will come where this will be in his eyes my
biggest achievement ever, chatting to a real life wiggle.
Speaker 1 (03:53):
Yeah, that's like my little niece before she turned one.
I did the same thing. I was I was watching
The Wiggles with it, and I was sitting with and I
think I'm made a video online I was like, she
has no idea that she's watching her uncle and I'm
sitting with her. But you'll realize, and they used to come.
She looks back if she really cares, but you know.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Oh she will. I mean, you guys are celebrities. This
is a serious celebrity we have on the show this week. Listeners.
I'm so honored and I feel like this the Wiggles generally,
I mean, for many reasons, and we'll get to this,
but there's justice crew. First, there's you know, an ARIA
nominated chart topping career before we even get to the
Wiggles chapter. And then on top of that, you know,
(04:30):
you're not just a Wiggle, You're the thirsty Wiggle, which
just brings us this extra level of virality.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
It's unique, it's unique.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
It's definitely you've occupied a very unique section of the Internet,
which we will get to because I'm sure. I mean,
one of the things I love to talk about on
this show is that the places that people end up
or the places that people are introduce to you now
will kind of get to know you as the Purple Wiggle.
It's really easy to assume that you had a really
smooth path there, that you always knew that you'd end
(05:01):
up where you are, and I feel like so often
when you go back to the very beginning, you started
as a kid who had big dreams and often they
aren't ever sort of what you thought that you'd end
up in. So I like to start back in childhood.
You know, I was reading that you were much more
into athletics and one hundred meters before hip hop became
a thing for you and six brothers one sister. You know,
(05:24):
there's a lot of kids running around and lots of
hopes and dreams, So figuring out sort of your path
and as a twin as well, like, there's a lot there,
So tell us about your childhood. Who you thought you'd
be when you were little.
Speaker 1 (05:35):
You know, I thought I was going to be a
parrange when I was little, me and my brother. Obviously,
I'm an identical twin, and I had a great childhood
when I look back, I always had a best friend
that was always there. We weren't competitive, but we love to,
you know, be sporty and run around. We used to
go out on the street and race each other to
you know, past the time, and that was that was
what entertained us as as young as six, and you know,
(05:56):
we wouldn't be on the street at that age, but
you know, we'd be playing and compete, and that's when
we kind of started our journey and athletics. But we
grew up in our house. A small house is a
two bedroom place. It's called housing commissioner government housing. So
I actually grew up in a place like that where
it was me, my brother, younger sister, my younger brother,
and my older brother, which we grew up together. We
(06:16):
shared a room, my parents obviously in the other room,
so it's very small and we didn't have a lot,
but we had to use our imagination to entertain ourselves.
And we weren't very watuate in the sense of, you know,
material things, but we were gifted in the art of
sport and energy, so I guess we had to turn
that into something. So sport was our outlet, and then
it ended up becoming dance through the journey. So yeah,
(06:38):
in a nutshell.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
Wow, I love starting back at this earlier part of
people's lives because I think, you know, when you google
you it's not this kind of stuff that comes up,
but it's hearing about people's beginnings, which are often much
more humble than you might expect when you look at
the chapter there and now, which is often when we
meet you, I bet you never expected that you'd end
up being, you know, the global sensation that you've become.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Yeah, I know, and I guess, you know, growing up
in those circumstances, you only kind of get exposed to
what you see on TV and being surrounded by kind
of similar people, and you do get kind of put
in in a bubble. They say, you know, you've got
to kind of work, or you've got to study, and
you've got to do all these things, which is kind
of a general consensus where if you know, study get opportunities.
(07:20):
But you know, I went to a public school. We
didn't have those kind of opportunities. And also you know,
the financial backing to kind of take risks and all
that stuff. So I guess we had each other. But
I'm very grateful for that now, and I kind of
look back when I look at my childhood, it was great.
I had a lot of fun, but you know the
standard of what I thought was fun was was very low,
so that anything that I'm doing now it's I'm succeeding,
(07:40):
and I feel like I'm truly happy for what I
do today, and I'm very grateful to be in the
Wiggles and to be able to perform and do music.
But I think I'm not saying that's the definition of
true happiness. But you know, my blueprint of what a
perfect life was was that, and I think there's nothing
wrong with that. And it was a great at a
great time. But you know, there's a lot more out there,
and there's a lot of opportunities to be had, and
I'm very grateful to be where I am today, and
(08:02):
I'm for my childhood and the way I was raised.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
I think there's an art to parenting in a way
that your children believe that what your means are able
to create for them is the best. Like I love
that you had no consciousness that it was more or
less than anyone else. You just had a great time.
And I think that's really special that you had a
childhood like that.
Speaker 1 (08:22):
Yeah. Yeah, I hope everyone does have a good childhood,
but everyone's story is unique and different, and I think
that's part of my story. And I was never really
I was kind of always embarrassed to talk about, you know,
growing up in housing commission and not having much and
getting my mom to write a letter to school to
see if one of us can get exempt from school fees,
which is only two hundred and fifty dollars or something
whatever that was. But they were always supportive in that sense.
(08:44):
But now that I look back and I feel like,
you know, it's okay to talk about that, and it's
you should be proud of your story no matter what
it is.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
It's also amazing to talk about it because there would
be other kids now who are listening and trying to
form their pathway and what as you said, like pople
can't believe they can do something unless they see it,
unless it's visible, and so seeing you having made that
leave in your career makes other kids believe that they
could also kind of outgrow their circumstances.
Speaker 1 (09:11):
Yeah, and there's always hope and if you if you
want something in your dream enough, you got a dream
big and with justice screw we always stood for. That
was our quote was to dream big and no matter
what dream it is, it's if you believe it, you
can achieve it. So you just got to work hard
and get around the right people and just you know,
have hope.
Speaker 2 (09:27):
Yeah. Absolutely, Okay, So there was a whole career before
the chapter that you're in right now, and then I
was also reading you went down an academic pathway there
for a while, doing a Bachelor of Science and a
diploma in nutrition, and then that led you to working
as a pt and there was a stint on Australia
Need You Worry You? So? Where did that sit alongside
(09:49):
Justice Crew? And how did I mean, how did you
go from that back to music and entertainment? How did
it all happen?
Speaker 1 (09:55):
Where did that fall into the story. Yes, so me
and my brother. I always bring my brother because you know,
we're twins and we did everything together. But if I
just assumed that he's part of my story. We did sports.
That was our way of kind of finding our place.
We were fast runners. We felt like we were naturally quick,
and you know, we played sports and I felt like, yeah,
we're good at that, and that was kind of People
would love to see us race each other and you know,
(10:16):
win races, which was really cool. And you know, through
school we did a bit of training. Outside of school.
We were very successful in the athletics scene. I would say,
you know, making a state at a national level through
high school was an achievement for us and we weren't
bringing no money, but we were bringing the gold medalsil metals
that that was good enough. And you know, through training,
when we used to train, we used to do you know,
(10:37):
sports like long jarm, triple jump, high jump, and you
know with high jump, there were these mats that you
could learn to do backflips and front flips on too,
So we used to do that at training, and we
used to try to just flip our bodies around and
that's something we did because we had a lot of energy,
and that kind of opened us up to the idea
of you know, breakdancing and dancing. And our older brother
(10:57):
who is full Filipino by the way, it's on my
mom's had a son before she had me and my brother,
so we had an older brother that was full Filipino
that was always dancing and would always pull us in
the room and get us to learn these dance routines
that we didn't really we weren't really interested in at
the time. You know, this is early high school, and
I think we didn't realize that that was kind of
(11:18):
opening us up, like introducing us to the idea of
dance and break dance and performance. So that was kind
of the way we kind of got into Justice Crew.
At high school, we formed a group we were called
the Athletes.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
I was going to say the athletes.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
We all loved sports, but we were a group of
friends and we all kind of did different sports like rugby, athletics, soccer,
you know, and we also love dance. So we started
learning dance through lunch breaks. We weren't out, you know,
we're having lunch, but we went into the theaterret at
school and we taught each other and we started putting
together dance routines just for the fun of it, and
(11:54):
we used to you know, film it and make the
mixes ourselves. And we actually ended a competition outside of
school that we were like, you know, I think we're
good enough to go into a dance competition we called Groove,
which is that Blacktown and you can kind of enter
and put there's battlegrounds and things like that where you compete,
and that was kind of the first introduction to dancing
for us. And we did it for fun, for a
(12:16):
bit of a laugh and yeah, so that was the
first performance that we kind of did from school. So
about year nine year tenant school.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I had no idea that you guys just self taught
in your lunch breaks and then went on to become.
Speaker 1 (12:28):
That's what we did. That's how it started. And I
think from that because we didn't take we took it seriously,
but not that serious that it was consuming our whole life.
But we did it because we loved it. And we
met another group at this competition. They were called Psalms
and they were break dancers. So me and my brother
and this group called Psalms we formed Justice Crew and
that's where we kind of connected and we started a
(12:50):
new group from that because we kind of you know,
we built a relationship and friendship from this, and that's
where Justice Screw was born.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
I mean, that's such an incredible story because I'm sure
there are a lot of kids who kind of get
together with their friends and like anyone who's creative, we all,
you know, I was a dancer as well, and I've
done but jillion concerts for half my neighborhood, and you know,
that's part of it, is like teaching yourself routines and
kind of performing. But not many people go on from
that structure and just playing around and enjoying themselves to
(13:19):
like aria chart topping songs, Top ten singles, ARIA Award nominations,
and to like a full time career. So what do
you think was the difference for you? And what happened
to your nutrition Sports Science PT career alongside that?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
Like that came in a bit later.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
Okay, so another whole chapter's.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
Yea, So I'm trying to narrow it down. Like as
much as I don't like to talk, I've always got
a lot. There's a lot of story in there, but
I kind of skip past and I kind of jump
through just to kind of make it as relative as
possibly you can kind of keep interested. But so basically
after we formed Justice Group, this was kind of leading
up to after school, so we formed this new group
called Justice Crew, which we ended up going to Las
(13:58):
Vegas to compete the World Hip Hop Chaps because we
wanted to kind of you know, put ourselves on a
big platform. So like being self taught and going into that,
I think we didn't have that pressure to feel like
we needed to do something because we kind of did
it because we loved it, and there was no standard
I think on our end to say, you know, we've
(14:19):
got to complete the Olympics. So if we don't achieve this,
our life's over. We just kind of enjoyed it. And
I think our group of friends were like minded and
we're all self taught, so I felt like there was
no expectation on our side of things. But we were
just opened to every opportunity that came our way, and
we just kind of seized it and just went full
blasts with it. And I think one story went to another.
So we start off as a high school group, which
(14:41):
formed into us a group outside of school, which we
ended up going to Australia's Got Talent. Thank you to
my mom because she saw an advertisement saying you can
win two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and we were just,
you know, busking at the time and she said, you
guys should go on this TV show. You could win
some money. You bring home, bring some money. So, you know,
we did Australia's Got and.
Speaker 2 (15:00):
You Want It just quietly for everyone.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
We didn't think we were going to win it. We
just wanted to go on TV and do something. But
you know, I think the more we did the show,
more we started to believe that we could be a
contender to win, and which we did win, and then
you know, from that Sony Music, you know, approached us
and said, do you guys do music? And we said, no,
we just dance or we busk. And then we kind
of spoke to a few of the guys there and
they said, what if you guys dance to your own
(15:24):
music in your own music videos? How can will that be?
And we said, you know, let's do it. You know,
we didn't have the experience behind us. Well, we love
to do things and take an opportunity. So we ended
up getting signed to Sony Music to film a documentary
to lead us to get into studio to work with
the best writers and best songwriters and producers to start
writing our own music, and we started making our own
(15:45):
hit songs, and a few hit songs later, we've got
nominations and you know, number one songs with Bum and
case Rah and touring America with Pitbull and Kesher and
Chris Brown and all these big artists.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
Wild journey, Yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
A long journey. But you know, I think that the
moral of the story is, you know, the opportunities are,
They're all around, and I think just being open minded
and just seizing each moment and not thinking too much
of it and just kind of taking it and just
you know, as long as you enjoy it, there's always
something that comes of it. And it's not really obvious sometimes,
but what the end goal is.
Speaker 2 (16:19):
Oh absolutely, I love that so much because I think
there's a lot of we just put so much pressure
on ourselves to find our passion and be the best
and attain success and fulfillment in life. And it's really interesting.
You are probably one of the first people I've heard
who's had the level of success that you have in
such a competitive industry, Like, not many people actually can
make careers of the arts, and a lot of people's
(16:40):
families kind of dissuade them from doing music and dance
because you can't make a career of it. It's too hard, And.
Speaker 1 (16:46):
Yeah, it's very difficult.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Yeah, it's rare that someone does get to where you've
gotten without waking up when they're five and going I
want to be that person. I love that it was
almost by accident, like you didn't put pressure on yourself.
Speaker 1 (16:57):
It definitely was. Yeah, I think there's nothing wrong with
dreaming big at a young age. I think I actually
wanted to be a construction I've actually got an audio
tape of me in kindergarten saying I want to build
houses when I'm older, and that's totally the opposite of
what I'm doing now. And if I think, if I
could tell my younger self, you know, you're going to
be in the Wiggles. You're watching the Wiggles now, you're
going to be Yeah, but I think you're following your
journey because as you grow and develop and you see things,
(17:20):
you meet people, your idea of success changes, and what
your goal was can also change and evolve. And you know,
even through Justice Crew, I started getting into fitness and
personal training and nutrition. I think being exposed to all
that and meeting people and then social media and then
all the rubbish that's out there, you kind of want
to learn what's true and what's false. So I think
(17:41):
that's where I started doing fitness and then learning nutrition
and then learning from the experts, and then you know,
studying clinical nutrition.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Oh so that came totally after Justice Crew, like completely.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
After that was a little bit later. Yeah, So after
performing and touring, it kind of like I wanted to
have something that I can sort of control too that
I love to do something for myself. Because we were performing,
writing music with a group of guys. You know, everyone
has their own little outlets after that to have their
own things. So fitness was something that I was always
passionate about and I want to kind of learn nutrition,
(18:11):
and I started personal training on the side for a
little bit to kind of take my mind off touring
and music because I want to kind of do this
for a little bit. And that was kind of cool
to be able to find the time after touring started
slow down a little bit towards you know, later twenty seventeen,
twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen, and that that's where I started
doing personal training and the nutrition coaching as well, before
I met Anthony.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Is that how that happened? Okay, oh my gosh. So again,
obviously wasn't a lifelong dream to become a wiggle And
then you've gone from a very sort of media, you know,
entertainment industry, kind of away from that and then back
into it. So how did that all happen?
Speaker 1 (18:49):
I think, like, I believe in the power of the universe,
so I think the things are supposed to happen for you.
It's supposed to be like that. So I kind of
pulled back from the media and touring because we've been
doing that since high school. It's all I've kind of known.
I've never been in the workforce working nine to five
and you know, just just working it and just getting
a salary or whatever. I always wanted to do that
because I didn't get to do that. So I think
(19:10):
there was a part of me that wanted to just
be regular. I just want to work and just.
Speaker 2 (19:13):
Just like wear a suit and just sit at.
Speaker 1 (19:16):
A dance exactly. So I thought, you know, peting and
something that I could just kind of go, you know,
just be a real person. And even like the way
I got my clients and stuff like that, I didn't
advertise from my social media platforms. It was kind of
a bit anonymous, and no one really knew that I
was in Justice Schreum until I started training with me
and recognized me when they met me in person. So
I think that was kind of an organic way to
(19:36):
just work a bit. So I actually reached out to
Anthony for the first time after I got married. We
moved into Gladesville and Anthony lives down the road, which
I didn't know until we bumped into him and we
got to chatting. And obviously I know who Anthony is
and everyone does when you see him. And you know,
we got to chatting just before COVID. You know, I
reached out and I said, you know, if you need
a training partner, I'm peeting, so let me know you're
(19:59):
up the road. I know you love a bit of fitness,
and that kind of opened up the conversation between us
through social media. And yeah, one conversation led to an
invitation to wiggles HQ to work on a project.
Speaker 2 (20:10):
That is absolutely wild.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
It is wild and it is so cool. By the way,
he's the coolest guy. You're mate, if you get the
chab you met Anthony before?
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I haven't, No, I mean obviously have watched in my
entire life, but I've never had the chance to meet him.
But he seems like just an absolute legend.
Speaker 1 (20:26):
Is of course? Yeah, is there a legend? Is the course?
Go You're meet and yeah, it gives everyone opportunities. I'm
super grateful that is, you know, give me the chance
to get back on stage and perform and travel and
to the world and now make a lot of children happy. Yeah,
my parents too.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Yeah. Well, I just love that you mentioned that you
trust the universe, because I think sometimes when people go
through the chronological order of sort of their life. There's
a lot of goal set for this, and then I
worked really hard and then I positioned myself here and
I studied for this, and then there's sort of conversations
about luck and timing and stuff. But I just love
that sometimes it is just about trusting that you'll move
(21:02):
into the house that's three doors down from the person
you needed to meet, Like you just know, you never
know what's around the corner, and that's the beauty of it.
Sometimes we overplan everything exactly.
Speaker 1 (21:13):
Yeah, I think everything happens for a reason, and sometimes
you find a roadblock in life, like if you tried
to move somewhere, or you tried to get that job
but you didn't and something failed. I think that's all
supposed to happen, and you only kind of realize when
you look back. You realize that's why I did that,
That's why that happened, and this is why this happened,
and that's why I'm here today. So I think everything
is supposed to happen the way. So thank you universe
(21:34):
looking out for me, my spiritual guide.
Speaker 2 (21:38):
So before we get into what life as a wiggle,
you know, looks like and everyone watches you guys from
like the finished product, but I'd love to hear a
little bit more about what it looks like behind their scenes.
And as you're preparing to become a parent, it's such
an exciting time in your life. But just going back
to the idea that you know, now it's a lot better,
and I'm sure the landscape has improved a lot, but
(21:59):
sort of you Justice Krue was on Australia It's Got
Talent around twenty ten and that was a very different
time in the landscape. There were you know, not as
many diverse faces on our TVs competing in competitions, not
just reality TV but all media. I feel like representation
for not just Asian Australians, but all cultures was a
lot less of a priority in the media. What has
(22:21):
your experience been from that perspective as an Asian Australian
in the media and in this industry, and you know
that spanned decades as well, You've kind of been there
over a time where it's changed. But even back in childhood,
have you ever experienced any racism? Were you ever bullied
in that sense? Because I think it's just as important
to talk about the barriers and the challenges we face
(22:42):
on our journeys as it is the good times when
things go well.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
I think going back to, you know, my childhood, having
those real low expectations and kind of growing up with
brothers and sisters, and I had a twin brother there
all the time, so I always had someone that looked
like me. Yeah, almost too much like me. But you know,
you're going through school, like I think, because twins were,
I felt like they weren't as common or especially where
I grew up, so going to school, even in KINDI one,
(23:08):
you two, we were like everyone wants to play with
the twins.
Speaker 2 (23:11):
And we were kind of like you're a novelty.
Speaker 1 (23:13):
We were a bit like a novelty. So I felt
like we were almost different in a sense because we
were twins already that we almost were that novelty. But
as I said, like I had a great time growing up,
Like I didn't get experience bullying. I don't really look
like a typical, you know, like a minority in any sense,
because like people will look at me today and think,
I don't know where you're from, or they didn't realize
(23:34):
that I'm Filipino. Me and my brother were so proud
to be Filipino. Like growing up, we had such a
good relationship with our aunties and our family, and we
just we wanted to almost be more of the minority
side of it because it just felt like it was
a bit different. Like it was like my first tatoe
was like the Filipino son. So I drew that myself
and I got that tattooed on there. Oh you know,
(23:56):
a tatto on my chest that says money while I
which means believe. And I think this. I don't know
if it's something maybe my mom did or my older
brother who was out something was like our idol growing up,
and to see him, he's pretty dark, so he's he'd
be considered a black Philippine. He caught himself Blazian. I
don't know if that's a real turn, but he's, you know,
growing up like and that was our idol, and I
(24:16):
felt like someone like that was, you know, I would say,
he's kind of a dark Asian with someone that we
want to be. And I think for me and my brother,
we always we want to dance like him, we wanted
to rap like him, we want to go to the gym.
It'd be big like him and his friends that that
was something that we looked up to, and I feel
like we felt a sense of belonging in that and
because we had sports, I think sports really also helped
(24:38):
us fit in in a way that kind of made us,
you know, not like we're good at sports, so you
can't bully us. So I don't know, it just felt
like we had that, you know, I don't know, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (24:48):
I think, you know, sport is such a great leveler
and can transcend other differences that might otherwise kind of
act as more of a division between people. It's such
a uniting thing.
Speaker 1 (25:00):
Just want to look back at it. I think, you know,
I think it was probably more of the sense of
like how circumstance was, you know, because we were considered poor.
I think that was probably more of the part that
we kind of hit from a lot of people that
we didn't really kind of advertise that, you know, we
had to eat you know, meat pires that were like
you buy a pack for two dollars, then we just
had to heat that up and we just brought that
for lunch. And I think like that was kind of
(25:21):
something that we weren't too proud of. But now that
I'll look back, you know, be proud of it. Little Johnny. Yeah,
it's just who cares like, you know, but it's just
at that time you think of it, you didn't bring
people over to your house or you know, stuff like that.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, it's so interesting and I'm so it's so great
to hear that you didn't experience any racism in your
school years or or sort of along the way. Would
you say, has your cultural heritage ever been an obstacle
in terms of your career? Has it ever been something
that stopped you getting an opportunity?
Speaker 1 (25:51):
Do you think if I was to just be honest,
I think because we didn't look like typical like you know,
people didn't know where we were from that would just
see us, you know, like me and my brother, like
even Laven today, I don't really get that people would
say you're Filipino.
Speaker 2 (26:06):
Yeah already I would.
Speaker 1 (26:07):
Have to say it, like because you know, like sharing
my mom through my social platforms kind of allowed I
didn't want to say everyone, look I'm yeah. I thought
like if you just say, if you saw my mom
and how we grew up and this was what was
looking after us and raising us, like we grew up
like you know, in the Filippino household, which is how there,
So I think having that, yeah, that was our experience.
Speaker 2 (26:30):
Yeah, it's really interesting. My husband is half Singaporean and
he's very similar to you. He looks sort off, you
can't tell in Italy, he looks Italian in like the
Middle East, he looks Middle Eastern like, he's quiet. It's
only like Singaporean women who go, I know you're half Singaporean,
but most people can't tell. And so yeah, he's found
that he hasn't experienced any sort of racial discrimination in
(26:54):
his older age, but when he was younger, he looked
a lot more Asian and he grew up in country Tazzy,
so's a lot less multicultural back then. So he found
more in childhood, but now not so much, which is yeah,
which is fascinating. So the Wiggles chapter, So since twenty
twenty one, you have been a purple Wiggle. What is
it like? What is it like knowing that you were
(27:15):
gracing the households of an entire nation and overseas and
bringing joy to like a younger generation.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, it's a really cool job. Like I'm actually like
so proud and so privileged and grateful, to be able
to call myself a Wiggle And I think growing up
with the Wiggles, you just you see them as you know,
they're international stars. This is this is like the Beatles
for children or you know, this is like everybody knows
the Wiggles.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
You are literally the Beatles for children. That is literally
what you are.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Yeah, and it's still bizarre to me, but it feels
like the coolest job in the world. And you know,
I would walk around and almost feel like Clark Kent,
like when you see little kids and stuff walking with
their parents you think like, oh, I have no idea
like that. I'm like, I'm like Superman like undercover, like
because I'm kind of in disguise when I'm not wearing
like purple outfits. But it's the coolest job in the world.
And to be able to bring joy to families and
(28:02):
write music and be able to perform and you know,
it's bizarre and totally grateful for it. Love it. It's indescribable.
Speaker 2 (28:10):
It's really cool that you mentioned you wanted to be
a power Ranger when you were younger, which was like
a superhero based on a color, which is kind of
what the Wiggles are. You're a superhero based on a color.
I know you kind of did end up getting there,
and I think that's what goes through my head.
Speaker 1 (28:23):
You know, we get to play ourselves as the Wiggles
and that's the cool part about you know, like Anthony
and the guys there, and they kind of bring out
your personality through your character and I'm not playing like
big strong John. It's like, I love my fitness, I
love nutrition, I love to be athletic. So that's my
personality showing through my character. And I think it's almost
an essense of a power ranger or a superhero, and
(28:43):
I think that's what I'm kind of trying to portray
through a Wiggles character. Even though the Wiggles were the
you know, Greg Murray, Jeff Anthony, directly, Donalds or that's
what I grew up with, it's a different area and
now as a diverse wigl so it's a bit different.
The next generation are growing up watching the current Wiggles
as their original Wigel. So if you look at it
like that doesn't feel as imposter syndrome as what I felt.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
Yeah, so what would your day look like? Like? Do
you guys, how much do you rehearse together. How much
you do you Yeah, you mentioned you're writing music when
you're writing songs together? And is always all of the
Wiggles together or do you go off and do some
solo things like I often see you with Sahai and
like you're doing things kind of in groups. How does
it all work? And do you ever get days off?
Speaker 1 (29:27):
Yeah, we definitely get days off. I think that's important
in any role. But you know, this job, you'd call
it a job, you call it a do you just
become a wiggless But you know, a day in the life,
it's always different. There's no two days the same. If
we're not touring and traveling, we're in the studio and
we're writing music, we're recording music, or we're filming TV series,
or we're filming social media TikTok or Instagram videos. But
(29:49):
there's always something going on. And for example, today I'm
not in Wiggle down today, I'm heading off to Canberra
for some shows tomorrow, risking there. Hopefully my wife doesn't
for you know, give it doesn't break over a night.
But you know, like in no two days are the same.
So if we're not traveling, we're in the studio or
you know, we're doing different projects. We're always working on
(30:10):
a different project every day. Yeah, So before I joined
the Whigs in I'd always wonder what they'd be doing
on a daily basis, Like you'd watch them on YouTube
on ABC and you'd see the shows and you'd see
them touring, but you wonder what the day in the
life of was like. And now I kind of get
to see firsthand what goes on. And there's always something
happening and it's it was like chaos, but it's like
(30:30):
a controlled chaos, and there's always something. There's like someone
coming in asking for this, and someone can you come
and do this quickly? And then we've got to quickly
write this. And now we've got a new album that's
seen this, and now we've got to get this done.
But we'll stop that, but we'll go into the studio
and we'll film this on green screen and we've got
to put you know, film this TV show. And now
we've got this guest coming in and we're going to
film with this person. Now we're off to Melbourne tomorrow
(30:51):
to do you know, it's just always something like that
and it's not crazy, but it's crazy good love. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
I mean that's was kind of why it was such
a big question for me, because I think there are
so many people listening who feel like they know you,
Like you're in our houses and we spend so much
time watching you perform. We know your body language and
we know like, yeah, parts of your persona. But it
is kind of like, well, what are you guys doing
in between? Yeah, you're rocking around in your purple outfit,
Like do you have other clothes?
Speaker 1 (31:17):
You know, I know, there's a lot going on, and
it takes a while, you know, to put all these
things together. And this year we put I think we
had nearly forty hours of content. We had to write, record,
and film them all, and that's like a lot of planning.
In some days we'd get through, Like when I was
in Just Screw, we'd take a day or two to
film a video clip for a song. We're at the Wiggles,
(31:38):
who might film eight video clips recorded and filmed, and
we'd choreograph on the spot. So when the cameras all
set up, we're in the where we're going to film it,
and we're going, this is what we're going to do,
and we'll do this. It's almost like filming a TikTok.
You're kind of work it out there in that ten
minutes you've got and then okay, we'll go and then
we'll go for a take, and then we're going for
a close up and that song's done, and like half
(32:00):
an hour, oh, prefare the next one, and just we
just keep going through songs like that just so quick
you learn to learn something and forget it and just
keep going.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
It's amazing.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
You wouldn't kind of sit on it for oh my gosh,
everything you watch on TV, it's like done there and
then then planned on the day, So whatever you're thinking
on the day, it's very freshly creative.
Speaker 2 (32:20):
Oh wow, I didn't know that you guys like choreograph
on the spot and that it wasn't all completely planned
out for you already.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Like there is a bit of planning and you know
the shots are got to do and how going to
do it. But they're definitely the dancing and the in
the structure and everything that you see, even what we're
wearing is kind of on the floor.
Speaker 2 (32:35):
What's amazing. Oh wow, I love that. I love that
you get so much like creativity in the role.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
Yeah, it's definitely because creativity. It can be creative, but
a lot of creativity just comes to you. When it
comes to you. Ideas just appear. You can't overthink something
too much. I think it's just has to be a natural,
especially with creativity.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
I don't know what do you make of I think
it was like around twenty twenty three, what are you
and Jesse, your beautiful wife and soon to be baby mama?
What do you guys make of you becoming the sexy
wiggle that now? Like I was watching an American TikTok
the other day, just out of the blue, like didn't
even hadn't googled or anything, and it was this whole
bit about how this guy comes downstairs and the Wiggles
(33:14):
are on and he's like, yeah, it's on like seven
different platforms, and I was like, oh my god, that's John.
It was like totally unrelated to anything Australian, and it
just it was like, yeah, he comes downstairs and his
wife is suddenly watching the Wiggles a lot. Does it
blow your mind? How do you guys feel about it? It
must be such a weird feeling.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
It's definitely wild. Like I don't know how to feel
about it. I guess the Internet can turn anything into
something totally and you just got to kind of embrace it.
And it is kind of cool. And I think these people,
a lot of the Americans, especially those videos that come
out of America, they grew up watching The Wiggles, and
they know the Wiggles as the original guys right back
in the nineties early two thousand and then when they
(33:53):
see and think Wiggle and they see my face and
they see my tattoos out and they're thinking, well, what's
going on here? And I think it's intriguing for a
lot of people. And that's kind of what I make
of it. It's definitely very interesting, and I guess it
just reminds everybody and the Wiggles are still here.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Yeah, we're evolving, We're modern.
Speaker 1 (34:10):
Yeah, we're evolving, you exactly. And I think it's kind
of cool. And it's reaching a different demographic a lot
of them that definitely they've got families and kids of
their own, or most of them do, or they will want.
So I think it's a positive thing and it's going
to spread more good quality entertainment and education out there because,
you know, the Wiggles, that's what we love. The Wiggles
for been around for thirty two years, providing good quality entertainment,
(34:33):
and I think that's what we love. And I'm going
to be, you know, putting my child in front of
the Whigls.
Speaker 2 (34:37):
Oh my gosh, I know, I can't even imagine what
it must feel like having grown up with the Wiggles.
Knowing that you're going to have a child who will
grow up with watching you as a wiggle That's so cool.
But that kind of makes me think of Obviously, I
think we in the old school days, we think of
the Wiggles as just like you know, hot potato like
songs for children to keep them entertained. But I think
(34:57):
social media has allowed you all to become characters that
lend your voices to lots of different things that you
want to teach the leaders of tomorrow, Like you can
all be passionate about things other than just music and
song and dance. And yeah, I think it's beautiful that
social media allows you to have your personas outside of
just the Wiggles content. And one of the things that
I've been reading about is that you've got an amazing
(35:19):
partnership with Hello Fresh. So Nick and I've been Hello
Fresh customers for many years. It's not only been really convenient,
very time saving, particularly since having a child, like it's
you'll appreciate it a million times more. But one of
the things you've been working on is this crazy problem
that we have in Australia with waste that we've been producing.
(35:39):
I think it's like seven point six million tons of
food waste. You know, that's just one of the messages
that you've been lending your voice to teaching kids earlier
about better waste habits. So can you tell us a
bit about the partnership that you have and all the
you know, the online resources that you've been making aren't
just Wiggles but also climate.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
Superstars, still helping children. But you know, like me and
Jess have been using heather Fresh for a while and
it's like it's something. When we got married, we moved
in and like most young people go, you know, we
were going to cook every single night, and we're gonna
we're going to host dinner parties and do everything. And
we soon, like not that long after that, we realized
we started cooking the same things, and we started getting lazy,
(36:17):
and we started buying lots of ingredients and doing all
this stuff and stocking our pantry and a lot of
it did go to waste. And you know, we did
find HelloFresh not that long after that, and we thought,
you know, this is exactly what we wanted. We wanted
something that was easy to follow, It was healthy, We
felt like we were cooking it, we were also learning,
and everything was like pre portion. Everything we opened up
was just like you just use that whole thing. You
(36:39):
put that whole thing, and you just cut that whole
banana up, or you cut that whole sweet potato. And
we thought there was like you know, managing all the
waste and we weren't throwing away a lot and it
was just everything went out one bag and we threw
it out and it was easy and it felt like
We love HelloFresh And I think as soon as Hellafresh
reached out recently and said, you know, we're going to
put together this Climate Superstars camp with Cool Bean's Academy
(36:59):
and we want to help you know ed you gate
parents and children about you know, food sustainability, like would
you be on board? And I was just like, of course,
I'm working with children, you know, I love Hello Fresh?
Why not? So it just felt natural. It was a fun, little,
fun little day of filming creating you know, resources that
parents can use that teach you about how you can
use leftovers and make art out of different you can
(37:22):
use tumeric to paint pictures and things like that, and
freezing your food. So there was a fun day and
you know, there's a whole bunch of resource booklet that
you can download on on the hell of Fresh website.
So it was something fun to do and something that
I felt, you know, why waste food? My mum's from
the Philippines when we went over there, and if they
found out that nearly every Australian was throwing away five
hundred dollars worth of food every year just because it
(37:45):
was the leftover or it was just overused, oh my gosh,
like you wouldn't understand. We went over there and we
shared like biscuits and stuff and then save like at
one point two five litter coke for special guests and
we're just you know, pouring it on the floor, just
no electricity, just sharing that. So I think when you
put into context in that sense, it's so important in
a country like Australia, especially where we're we've got abundance
(38:07):
of food and options and things like that. You just
it's good to think twice and educate the next generation too, hopefully,
you know, don't waste food. It's people really value it
in some countries.
Speaker 2 (38:16):
Yeah, it's crazy that that's statistic about the five hundred dollars.
I was quite surprised, and it's amazing to see that
you've been able to use your platform for the messages
that now you know will also be for the future
of your little one. How are you feeling about being
a dad? Do you have everything set up?
Speaker 1 (38:31):
I can't wait. We've got the nursery set up. Even
though we're not using the nursery for you'd probably know,
like you don't use that much a year, it'd be sleeping,
very sleeping. But you know, we're excited. We're so pumped
and just as healthy. That's the main thing. And you know,
it's looking to be a big baby.
Speaker 2 (38:46):
Out of that.
Speaker 1 (38:47):
The measurements are getting the seventy percent of you know,
it's and just as like since she's quite little, but
you know, she's confident. She can't wait, she almost she
tells me she can't wait to feel labor. She just
like wants to just feel it.
Speaker 2 (39:01):
Yeah, Wow, what a weapon.
Speaker 1 (39:03):
No, she says that now she's a strong girl, and
I think she'll probably manage it. She's got a good
pain threshold. But you know, you'd probably know. I don't
know if you did, what your process was and how
you manage it all. But everybody says it's a day
to remember, and you know, we're definitely excited and grateful
to be here and expecting our first little boy.
Speaker 2 (39:21):
Oh it's a little boy.
Speaker 1 (39:23):
Oh congratcha, Yeah, we can't wait.
Speaker 2 (39:26):
Oh, little boys are the best. They're just it will
absolutely rock your world in the best way possible. It's
like the hardest and best thing you'll ever do. And
it's funny. I think you will go back and listen
to conversations. You'll listen and watch TV and watch snippets
of you and the person you are before your child,
and you won't recognize that person once he arrives. It's
(39:47):
just like you can't imagine a world without them. It's
so interesting. I can't wait. I'm so excited for you.
It's really special time.
Speaker 1 (39:55):
I'm so excited. Yeah. I was saying to Jess this morning,
we're walking and I was saying, you know, like inn
lesson to weeks, like we're going to have another person here.
We've been thinking about it for a long time, you know,
going to the old pregnancy. We feel like it's in
the future, but it's actually so close that our life
is about to change for the better. And just yeah,
we're so ready. We couldn't be more pumped. But you know,
I'm ready for the sleepless nights and the dad bring
(40:17):
it on.
Speaker 2 (40:18):
Yeah, oh my god, you can't get it. You're the
thirsty wiggle like you can't get a dad bond mate.
That's not good for your image.
Speaker 1 (40:26):
I think I think the big Strong John title is
a blessing in disguise. I'm meant to stick to, you know,
keeps you accountable. Yeah exactly.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Are you taking any time off? Are you taking any leave?
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Yeah, like all the necessary time required, and that it's
such a good team at the Whigs. They're just you know,
they're super supportive. And whatever time I need to take,
it's it's quiet a time this time of the year.
You know, we've got a few shows the Cows and
Domain and there's I think our last show is just
before Christmas time. So whatever time I need to take,
I wanted to take it like at least two weeks
off minimum to be there for just and you know,
support and be a dad and just be there in
(40:59):
the first few moments. So I'll definitely take that time
to you know, really embrace fatherhood parenthood.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Oh well, congratulations. I'm so excited. I was about to say,
what's next for you, but I mean, obviously parenthood is
the next chapter and that kind of takes up a
lot of a lot of energy, mental energy, physical energy.
And how exciting to have a little one for Christmas.
Speaker 1 (41:19):
I know, we can't wait. We've got little stockings already
with his name embroidered on there, which we won't announce yet,
but we've ordered them.
Speaker 2 (41:25):
You've chosen. Oh my gosh, ah, that's so special. Well,
it'll be a magical time ahead for you guys, and
my love to Jesse as well. And thank you so
much for the chat and for the joy that I
know you will bring. I mean, Teddy, as I said,
isn't quite wiggles obsessed just yet. But the minute it happens,
I'm going to text you and just be like any
thank you for the public service that you guys do
(41:45):
for parents and families everywhere.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Sarah when Teddy's old enough, you know it can be
having played theres with our little son together.
Speaker 2 (41:55):
Oh, I mean, obviously he can get lots of use
out of this purple jumper.
Speaker 1 (41:59):
Yeah, got a good year and a half left to
grow into that for growth out of it stretch.
Speaker 2 (42:07):
Oh, John, thank you so much, and I'm congratulations.
Speaker 1 (42:10):
No worries, Thank you, Thanks for having me. This is fun.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Well, Teddy hasn't quite entered his Wiggles era just yet,
but I'm sure there will be so much Wiggles action
going on in our household before we even know it.
He looked so cute in his little purple suit. I
don't know if you guys saw it on Socials, but
we sent John a little photo and oh my goodness,
it was so cute. It's been such a wild but
wonderful year, and John has so much to look forward
to when he becomes a parent imminently at any moment. Now,
(42:35):
what an amazing way to finish off a fabulous year.
It's been such a rollercoaster. We slowed down when Teddie
was born. We've now built up to some wonderful momentum.
It's so nice to be back, and I hope you
guys have enjoyed some of the fabulous guests we've had
over the past couple of weeks. If you do want
to follow along more of what John's doing, if you
don't already, I'm sure many of you already do. His
(42:55):
Wiggles page is at John Underscore Wiggle. His personal page
is at John Pierce, or of course you can follow
the Wiggles. There's also the Wiggle Talk podcast. And we
did also cover the incredible service that is HelloFresh that
is just so game changing when you're time for and
tired but still want to eat really well and you know,
really reduce your wastage when you're preparing food at home.
(43:18):
So I'll include the link to that as well in
the show notes. In the meantime, Oh my gosh, I
can't believe the next time that we're back it will
be twenty twenty five. That sounds so crazy and foreign
and exciting and amazing. At some point we will do
a year rap or a news Resolutions episode with the
big news that came from and I'm not sure when
that will be, but we will get it in your
ears eventually. We're taking a two week break just to
(43:42):
give your ears a little rest and recoup, spend some
time with the family, enjoy the festive season. I hope
you guys have a wonderful festive season and New Year,
no matter how you choose to spend it or what
you choose to celebrate. And I hope that over the
next couple of weeks you are seizing your yay we
will be back next year.
Speaker 1 (44:03):
St.
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