Latest news with #Wiggles
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Stray of the Day: Meet Wiggles 6/3/25
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (KCAU) — Meet today's Stray of the Day! This is Wiggles; she's one to two years old. She's a female, short-hair, blue cream Calico cat. The rescue said she's a friendly girl who likes people but isn't a big fan of other cats. Wiggles has a few other friends that are looking for homes, cats and dogs alike! Feel free to check them out online or in person; Good Day Siouxland features one animal each day; you can watch to see if we found your forever companion! If you've lost your pet, or if you're looking to adopt, you can check out the rescue's website at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Wiggles star issues apology to furious fan after devastating act on live tour
Wiggles star Lucia Field has apologised to the mother of a one-year-old fan, after her toddler failed to receive a high five during a live show. The furious mum, Amy, shared a video to TikTok on Monday which showed her tot being overlooked by the entertainers as he attempted to reach out to them 'six' times. To make matter worse, Amy revealed she and her son had been seated directly behind Red Wiggle Simon Pryce's son Asher, who received plenty of attention. Amy posted a compilation of her son's six attempts to get the attention of The Wiggles as they roamed the audience to meet fans throughout the performance. 'POV: You were sat behind Simon Wiggles' family at The Wiggles show,' the frustrated mother captioned her video. 'Watch how many attempts it took my toddler to get a high five.' The clip shows her one-year-old holding his arm up in anticipation of a high five on six separate occasions. However, The Wiggles performers each made a point of singling out Simon's four-year-old son for high fives, hugs, and hellos. Yellow Wiggle Evie Ferris, Blue Wiggle Lucia, and Red Wiggle Caterina Mete are all shown stopping by Simon's wife Lauren Hannaford and his son throughout the show. Simon, 53, and Lauren welcomed their son Asher in 2021. After Amy's son tried and failed to get their attention for the third time, he is shown pouting and still holding his arm outstretched as the performers walked away. Amy filmed the tender moment shared between Simon and Asher, as Simon enveloped his son in a hug and patted him on the back. He made direct eye contact with Amy during the interaction, while her toddler waved excitedly from his seat directly behind them, to no avail. Simon then returned a second time to pat his son's shoulder and involve him in the show, and Amy filmed her son still waving and saying 'bye' as Simon walked away. 'Attempt 5. Not going to lie, this one stung a bit,' Amy wrote over the clip. Yellow Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins was lucky number six and after sharing a quick hello and high five with Asher, the 19-year-old star immediately saw the sad toddler and gave him her attention. He was then seen bouncing and clapping along on his mum's lap. 'Thank you Tsehay, you saved the day,' Amy wrote in her caption, tagging each of The Wiggles. Her video has received more than 35,000 likes since it was posted two days ago. Lucia, who is the daughter of original Wiggle Anthony Field, rushed to the comments to offer her apologies. The 21-year-old wrote: 'I'm so so sorry! It's always been so chaotic when we run into the audience. 'I always try to wave to everybody, I'm so so sorry I missed your little one.' 'You didn't even see him Lucia, it's not your fault,' Amy wrote back. 'He was falling off my lap as you came up from waving so frantically at you. But thank you so so much for your message. It means the world.' Some parents were sympathetic to The Wiggles in the comments and noted it would be impossible to say hello to every child in the audience. But many pointed out a toddler would not understand the boy sitting in front of him was Simon's son and would think he was simply being ignored. 'Actually think that's incredibly rude of them to give so much attention to child in front and not give a little smile, hi5, quick hello to yours, who was literally right next to them. I get they can't do everyone, but a wave around the area doesn't take much,' one wrote. 'I agree,' Amy replied with a love heart emoji. 'That was really sad to watch,' another mum wrote. 'I get that's his son, but surely as child entertainers they should realise that other little babies can't comprehend why one kid is getting special attention from them all.' 'It's having the blinders on to not even notice another child right behind him desperately trying to get their attention with his arms out to wave,' Amy added in further comments, clarifying she is 'especially' upset with Simon. In 2021, the Wiggles sought to increase diversity in the group by adding four additional supporting members to the group. Shortly after this change, Emma Watkins left the group and Tsehay and Evie jointly took on the yellow skivvy. The group has just concluded the first Australian leg of 'Bouncing Balls' live tour in Adelaide. The tour will continue with dates in Darwin and Perth before it travels across the UK, USA, and Canada.
NZ Herald
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Bluey's Big Play, Auckland, review: Why Bluey's live theatre show is a masterclass in kids' entertainment
While I thought my 5-year-old (sceptical) son would see through the puppetry and be distracted by the lime green adorned puppeteers, I could not have been more wrong. Hiding in plain sight, the puppeteers commandeered the stage with just as much charisma and charm as the Wiggles, but without stealing a single moment or scene. My son didn't mention, or dare I say, even notice what I referred to as the dog handlers. As a parent, I found myself watching their well-honed skills in awe – including one uber cool ramp slide into position. And well-honed those skills are, with the theatrical show being wildly successful in Australia and around the globe. Some 447 shows have been performed across 65 venues in Australia alone. The charm of these four cartoon dogs, Bluey, Bingo, Bandit, and Chilli, plus a quick appearance from Lucky's dad, was effortless to watch. The atmosphere was relaxed as kids were mesmerised and hooked on the storyline that began with Bingo hiding her dad's phone so he would play with her. Parents relaxed as soon as they realised this wasn't the type of show where they would be expected to stand up and be part of the performance too. There weren't any action songs, sudden games or commotion that were our job to get kids to buy into. Everyone sang along to the Bluey theme song, though nothing felt forced. The atmosphere was abuzz, but not a sensory overload. It was effortless fun, and Bluey has the audience in the palm of her paw. Throughout the show, we saw Bluey learn to battle with being a sister, Bandit and Chilli learn the importance of being present and disconnecting from devices (as we all filmed our children on ours), and everyone being reminded to call their siblings a little more often. Every storyline was perfectly navigated with a child-sized dose of empathy, a bit of fun, and most importantly, a laugh. Laughter peaked when Bluey and Bingo dressed up as their iconic (in the Bluey fandom) crazy granny characters and terrorised their dad and Lucky's dad with the rogue Granny-Mobile. And there were awws from parents and empathetic looks when Chilli tried to explain why she doesn't see her sister as often as she would like. The show wouldn't have been complete without a game of keepy-uppy, where balls flew from the wings and stage, further intensifying as keepy-uppy was upsized with the addition of a bubble machine. The show's performers effortlessly made sure that nearly every child got a good whack at the balls before they disappeared back into the wings. As a parent, it was truly charming to witness the care that such a chaotic moment was choreographed with. As I left Spark Arena, I felt I'd been reminded of what our kids actually need from us in terms of fun. So often it's us as parents who complicate 'play'. It comes with rules, sensory overload, expensive toys, and our constant quest to give our kids learning and lessons. But if Bluey taught us anything, it's that creating memories and fun with your kids is quite literally child's play. Wackadoo!
The Guardian
23-04-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
YouTube boss invoked Wiggles in 11th-hour email to government before exemption from Australian social media ban
YouTube's global chief executive personally lobbied the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, for an exemption from the federal government's under-16s social media ban, less than 48 hours before Rowland announced the Alphabet-owned company would escape the ban. On 21 November, when legislation to ban children under 16 from social media services in Australia was introduced into parliament, Rowland surprised the industry in declaring that YouTube, and services that have 'a significant purpose to enable young people to get the education and health support they need', would be excluded. A week prior, Rowland had told radio station 2GB that YouTube would 'likely fall within the definition' of services to be banned, but in a sudden policy shift the platform was exempt, baffling rivals Meta, TikTok and Snap. TikTok said YouTube got a 'sweetheart deal' from government. Previously unreleased emails obtained by Guardian Australia under freedom of information laws reveal strong lobbying from YouTube attempting to avoid the ban, even invoking the Wiggles to support keeping YouTube available to kids. The YouTube chief executive, Neal Mohan, emailed Rowland at 5.13pm on 19 November last year, less than two days before the exemption was announced. Mohan said YouTube was 'fundamentally different' to other social platforms for children, given people often watch YouTube on a smart TV rather than on mobile devices. He also argued that he was making the site safer for kids. 'This work is personally and professionally critical to me as both a father of three and leader of YouTube,' he said in the letter. 'As CEO, I've directed my teams to further invest in ways to ensure our platform is a safe and enriching place for kids and teens.' Mohan also mentioned to Rowland he had met with YouTube creators the Wiggles. Earlier on the same day, the Wiggles spoke to Sky News criticising the potential for YouTube to be banned for children. Sign up for the Afternoon Update: Election 2025 email newsletter The FoI documents also revealed that, prior to the legislation passing, fellow Alphabet subsidiary Google provided draft amendments to Rowland's office that would effectively rule out YouTube from the ban. The tech giant's suggestions were not taken up by the minister's office. Instead, Rowland opted for a broad definition of what constituted social media in the legislation, with exclusions that could later be applied at the minister's discretion. Rowland replied to Mohan's letter in early December, after the bill was passed. She pledged that 'a re-elected Labor government' would 'give effect to this definitional exclusion for YouTube video streaming services, including YouTube Kids'. The exemption means even YouTube's TikTok-like product Shorts is excluded from the ban, despite TikTok and Instagram's Reels product facing the ban. Rowland's promise came despite draft rules for what services are included or excluded being currently under consultation with industry. Despite YouTube's blanket exemption from Rowland, industry sources said correspondence from the minister's office from early March stated no final decisions would be made before the consultation period concluded. A spokesperson for the minister said the decision to exclude YouTube was made in November last year and 'there has been zero reconsideration or communication to suggest otherwise – despite misleading attempts by TikTok, Snapchat and Facebook to imply that it was'. Sign up to Afternoon Update: Election 2025 Our Australian afternoon update breaks down the key election campaign stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion A TikTok spokesperson said 'these extraordinary documents raise even more questions about the sweetheart deal' between the minister and the global head of YouTube, and questioned why the Wiggles had been consulted before eSafety had been as part of the current process to decide which platforms were excluded. 'It is astounding that the minister met with the Wiggles, but still hasn't sought the independent advice of the eSafety Commissioner.' Snap called for YouTube's exemption to be revisited. A spokesperson said the letters 'raise some serious questions about the fairness of this process'. A spokesperson for Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta said the company had been 'disappointed in the process, which has been marked by a lack of transparency and open discourse'. The spokesperson said the YouTube exemption does not make sense. A preliminary report on the progress of the trial of technology to be used to assure ages on social media is due to government next week – but it will not be released publicly. The final report is due in June, and the ban scheduled to come into effect in December. YouTube declined to comment.
The Guardian
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Ferocious, cheeky or ‘nightmare fuel'? Meet Rum'un, Tasmania's new AFL mascot
A 'cheeky' Tasmanian devil that poos out footballs, growls like Nosferatu and is covered in papier-mache-like recycled fur has been unveiled as the new mascot of the state's long-awaited AFL team. Rum'un, which translates to Tasmanian slang for 'an odd or eccentric person; a scallywag, or someone cheeky' in the Macquarie Dictionary, made his debut as the Tasmania Devils' latest recruit at an event on Tuesday evening. He sashayed down the catwalk at Hobart's Theatre Royal with a slow run-up before bending down and emitting a 'Rum'un' roar, echoed with delight by attendees. 'I've got a very sneaking suspicion that this move is going to catch on,' the host, Jack Riewoldt, told the crowd, as the Devil launched into side-stepping dance to the backing of drums. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'Bit of Raygun there from Rum'un, you beauty!' Riewoldt cheered. Rum'un was developed in partnership with the Tasmania-based Terrapin Puppet Theatre and input from schoolchildren across the island. His fur is made from recycled school polo shirts, track pants and disused backpacks. Lead maker Bryony Anderson said it was an 'unusual pairing' for Terrapin Puppet Theatre but the club was 'game to do it differently'. The nine-month long process started with a visit to a local wildlife sanctuary, discussing devil physiology, their threat to survival and what makes the animal unique. Anderson then visited 10 schools with green uniforms and received donations, which led to a week at a New Norfolk high school where students helped turn the items into strips of fur, which were sown on to the creature. It was a request from the students that Rum'un would do custom poos of the feathers or fur of opposing teams. 'The team will go out with all the stories of the schools built in [to the mascot],' Anderson said. 'We wanted it to be ferocious and punchy, not just big foam heads. We were told 'don't make it look like the Wiggles'.' Pointing to a article with the headline 'Australia horrified as Tasmanian team's mascot causes frenzy', Anderson said 'in Tasmania, there's quite a few people that'll be chuffed with that'. In coming weeks, Rum'un will embark on a tour across Tasmania, meeting communities across the island and representing the club before its planned AFL men's debut in 2028. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion The Tasmania Football Club chief executive, Brendon Gale, said the new recruit would 'be a great beacon of our club across the state'. 'The creation of Rum'un reflects our club – uniquely Tasmanian, handcrafted and created with grit and determination representing our whole island,' he said. 'Rum'un is also a little bit cheeky. These characteristics are all true to the Tasmania Football Club, a club that represents our whole state and who does things our way.' Social media users had a mixed reaction to Rum'un. 'It's a pinata,' one TikTok user commented on a video which showed the devil ingesting and excreting an AFL football. 'That mascot is actually nightmare fuel,' another said, 'kids are going to be terrified'. 'This is legitimately cool. All the people cringing at it aren't having fun, but I am!' another user commented, while one simply said: 'That's fucked. I love it.' The release of the name and look of the mascot comes a year after the Tasmania FC revealed its club name and colours. The club has attracted 207,000 founding members before its AFL launch. On Tuesday, the Devils refreshed their $10 membership offer which attracted significant support last year.
