Former Wiggles star Emma Watkins has revealed how she ‘burned through’ her savings after leaving the iconic children’s group in 2021.
The 35-year-old became the first female Wiggle after donning the yellow skivvy in 2012 and replacing founder Greg Page.
I spoke to Osher Günsberg about his Better than yesterday podcast, Emma revealed that her decision to leave the Wiggles to create her new Emma Memma character came at quite a cost.
Osher asked Emma if she had taken “a financial inventory” before starting her solo venture.
“I feel like the inventory has only recently been done to see how much money we’ve burned,” Emma said.
According to Women’s DayEmma reportedly received $750,000 a year for her role as Yellow Wiggle.
Wiggles star Emma Watkins has revealed how she ‘burned through’ her savings after leaving the iconic children’s group
She further explained that after leaving the group in October 2021, she wanted to create the Emma Memma character and return to full-time studies, which proved to be a drain on her finances.
“When I left The Wiggles I actually went back to studying full-time,” Emma explained.
‘The whole premise was that I was going to finish my PhD, that became the whole focus – but of course that didn’t generate any income.’
Emma debuted her own children’s entertainment character Emma Memma in 2022 and won an ARIA for Best Children’s Album in 2023.
The character is designed to integrate elements of song, dance and sign language, which is inherent to Emma’s completed PhD at Macquarie University, which explores artistic integrations of sign language and dance for children’s screen media.
‘If it [Emma Memma] was unsuccessful [after 12 months]otherwise we wouldn’t have had any more bites or possible work after that time, then I would have had to stop,” she said.
“It wasn’t until the end of 12 months that we started to get some bites for the company. That put us in a difficult position, because then you have to invest more money to start the second year.’
Apart from Emma Memma, the Wiggles star certainly hasn’t rested on her laurels.
Speaking to Osher Gunsberg on his Better Than Yesterday podcast recently, Emma revealed that her decision to leave the Wiggles to create the Emma Memma character came at a steep cost. Emma (second from left) is pictured with (from left) Simon Pryce, Lachlan Gillespie and Anthony Field
She further explained that after leaving the group in October 2021, she wanted to create the Emma Memma character and return to full-time studies, which proved to be a drain on her finances.
Emma has also left the children’s entertainment space to appear on the likes of The Masked Singer, The Amazing Race Australia, Lego Masters Australia and the ABC series Teenage Boss: Next Level.
Her turn on the 2023 season of The Amazing Race, in which she competed alongside sister Hayley, earned Emma an equal first-place finish alongside the teams of former Voice host Darren McMullen and singer Alli Simpson.
She also married husband Oliver Brian in 2022.
Emma told Ny Breaking Australia in October that she has never had more creative flexibility since leaving the Wiggles, given the iconic outfit’s rigorous touring schedule.
‘Oh, I feel like it’s been such an interesting three years, where I’ve had a lot more flexibility, I’ve been able to do a lot of different projects that I didn’t really get the chance to do before because we were very busy with touring,” she said.
‘I think back a bit on the past three years. Sometimes I’m a little in shock when I think about what we did.
‘It was just a dream. Honestly, the last three years have been really special.”
Speaking to Stellar in September, she admitted that her departure from The Wiggles two years ago came with immense guilt.
“It wasn’t until the end of 12 months that we started getting some bites for the company. That put us in a difficult situation because you have to put in more money to get into the second year,” she said
Emma became the first female Wiggle after donning the yellow skivvy in 2012, replacing founder Greg Page
“We weren’t touring during the pandemic, and I thought maybe I wouldn’t disappoint so many kids,” she said.
“But even though I left at that time, I was still disappointing kids. So I’m sorry for all the kids at that time.”
Emma went on to say that some of her fans have been following her to her new projects.
“The parents will most likely say, ‘We actually had a ticket to come see you in 2021 and the pandemic happened. So we got our money back and then we got booked to see the next one and then you weren’t there,’” she said.
“So now we’ve come to watch you [as Emma Memma] because this is the first time we can see you live.”
‘That’s a nice story too. And that story is still happening.”