Original Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt, 70, reveals the shock reason why his character kept falling asleep onstage – ‘It was a mask’

Original Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt has shared the surprising reason why his character was known to fall asleep on stage – and the song created to wake him up.

Jeff, who became synonymous with the phrase “Wake up Jeff,” admitted in the new Amazon Prime documentary Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles that he previously suffered from shyness and used fake sleeping as a way to deal with introversion to go.

“It used to be (Blue Wiggle) Anthony Field who would fall asleep, and the kids would wake Anthony up. But I really liked it because it was a bit of a mask,” Jeff said.

Jeff, now 70 years old, was outspoken about his performance issues, saying he was the only person in the group who did not have a background as a preschool teacher.

“I would actually say I’m very shy and introverted because I was the only non-preschool teacher and had very little experience dealing with children,” he said.

Jeff ended by saying that he always struggled with being in front of an audience, and admitted that he had a fear of public speaking.

“It was a way to get me involved and on stage and it turns out that it’s so empowering for a child to be able to wake up an adult,” he said.

Later, Field interjected and said the idea for “Wake-up Jeff” came to him in kindergarten, where children pretended to wake up a tree.

“The tree fell asleep and they had to say, ‘Wake up, tree,’ and I thought, ‘This is fantastic.’ So we gave him (Jeff) the role of just falling asleep,” he said. said.

Jeff, who became synonymous with the phrase “Wake up Jeff,” admitted in the new Amazon Prime documentary Hot Potato: The Story of The Wiggles that he previously suffered from shyness and used fake sleeping as a way to deal with introversion to go

“It used to be (Blue Wiggle) Anthony Field who would fall asleep, and the kids would wake Anthony up. But I really liked it because it was a bit of a mask,” Jeff said

The Amazon Prime documentary provides a gripping account of life in The Wiggles through founding members Field, Fatt, Greg Page and Murray Cook.

In the series, Murray made a devastating family confession, revealing he often struggled to leave his two children, daughter Georgia Munro-Cook and son Hamish Cook, to go on tour.

The entertainer said his son Hamish often had it the hardest.

“I don’t like music because it takes Dad away,” he recalled his son once saying in the documentary.

Jeff ended by saying that he always struggled with being in front of an audience, and admitted that he was afraid of public speaking

Blue Wiggle Anthony, 60, also opened up about his harrowing battle with depression throughout his incredibly successful career.

He said he broke down in tears backstage during The Wiggles’ very first tour in England and no one could understand what was happening to him.

‘When I was talking to one of my brothers, I told him I felt sad all the time and he said, ‘Why do you have to be sad? You are successful, you have all the comforts you need. What’s wrong with you?” Anthony said.

The Amazon Prime documentary provides a gripping account of life in The Wiggles from founding members Field, Fatt, Greg Page and Murray Cook (all pictured)

Meanwhile, Yellow Wiggle Greg, 51, discovered that leaving The Wiggles in 2006 due to ill health could not save his marriage to Michelle Charlton.

Jeff also had a pacemaker fitted after a terrifying accident in which he blacked out behind the wheel of a car and crashed into a tree.

“Luckily that happened at no great speed,” Jeff said of the incident.

Field also opened up about his harrowing battle with depression throughout his incredibly successful career. Pictured: the Wiggles