Jono, Ben & Megan - The Podcast - Does John know he's the hot wiggle?

Episode Date: March 25, 2024

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The Hits with the Jono and Ben podcast. Thanks to Challenge, putting the service back into service stations. The Wiggles, coming back to New Zealand again. Very excited about that. Get ready to sing, dance and groove with the Wiggles. The Wiggle Groove Tour, they're going to be in New Zealand at the end of September this year at Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch.

And the tickets will go fast. They're saying they'll sell hot potatoes. And joining us right now, I'm pretty sure I can see him pop up over Zoom. It's John from the Wiggles. Hot John. Are you there, John? How you doing? I'm here.

Not too bad. How are you doing? Yeah, good, good. Really nice to talk to you. Nice to see you. It's always nice to see you, John. Oh, thanks. Good to be here.

Yeah, good. I noticed that wasn't reciprocated back, John. That's fine. That's fine. We're obviously more keen than you are. That's understandable. Where are you? Is this Wiggles HQ?

Yeah, in one of the office rooms here. Wiggles HQ. This is where it all happens. What is there? Are there like studios or what is it? So we've got a TV studio

so we do all the filming and we've got also a recording studio where we record all the instruments and music and do our songwriting. Oh, that's very cool. Park out the big red car, all the fruit salad you can eat, that sort of thing?

Yeah, there's plenty of parking space. We've got a big red car at the back in the warehouse getting worked on. It's like a mechanic workshop for the Wiggles. There's a little gym out there too. There's a gym? What? Yeah. Who's there?

That looks like a child-friendly gang pen. Now, we're very excited to have the Wiggles coming back to New Zealand again. I do have one question on logistics. How does the washing situation work? Because all very bright colors. All the colors wash together. The yellows and whites, it's mainly for the backing dance. There's whites and yellows, they go together, but the colors, they all go together.

They just wash. I think after a few washes, they don't leak onto anything else are there washing facilities in wiggles hq we yeah there is it's like a house here the kitchen is washing life must have changed dramatically since since joining the wiggles what what is the one big thing that you're like wow i've really had to get used to that over the last couple of years um yeah i think it's it's definitely changed and i think being recognized by parents and children in public places and things like that, it's been a big eye-opener.

And I think it's really cool getting to wear the purple skivvy, you know, any skivvy in that sense. But you kind of feel like a superhero in disguise when you're walking around and parents kind of, you know, they'll give you the nod when they recognize you, but the children don't

because you're not dressed in a wiggle outfit. Was it your niece? You did a great video because you do some great videos on TikTok and you had a video of your niece loving the wiggles, watching you on the TV, and then you were with her and she had no real, well, obviously knows who you are, but didn't know that you were a wiggle. Yeah, I think she's only 14 months. She's so cute.

And I don't think she realizes. And I think that's what the beauty of it is. They're just so young and innocent and they're just kind of just getting through. And I'm just Uncle Johnny there hanging out. And I think in a matter of time, she'll look back at the video when she's old enough to realize. And she'll hopefully find it cool. You're not wearing glasses or any disguise. You're not hiding anything.

That's my twin brother as well. So if he shaves his beard and he cuts his hair, he'll look just like me too. Well, you actually have. You've got a twin brother who looks very, yeah, looks very similar to you. And you guys were in a group together. You were already in a group before the Wiggles. It was Justice Crew, which you won Australia's Got Talent. You had your singles, your great dances as well.

So you've gone from one group to another. It's a crazy story. And I never thought that I'd be part of the Wiggles 12 years later. And I think it all makes sense looking back and the experience I had traveling and touring and performing everything I love to do it makes sense now so my son's a big fan of of yours he calls you big strong John so anytime he sees anything that looks like a barbell he's lifting it up but are you aware that uh mums don't call you big strong John. They call you Hot John. Yeah, Hot John, the hot wiggle, yeah. You say parents aren't recognising you,

but are you getting a lot of attention from mums? It's a funny one, that one. It always feels awkward to say, saying the hot wiggle or whatever it was I'm being labelled as. You know, I try not to think of it too much. Back in Justice Crew days, I might have been lapping it up, but at the moment, I focus on children and performing. It's just funny.

I find it a bit funny. My wife loves it. Of course, Skivvy's not very breathable, so you can technically be hot John as well. Yeah. We're very excited because you're coming back to New Zealand. The Wiggles on tour.

Is it all rock and roll? It's all rock and roll. It's so much fun. We'll be heading down the end of September and it's always really fun when we travel to New Zealand. This will be my third time with the Wiggles. Who's the most untidy Wiggle to travel with? Anthony.

Oh, really? Pretty untidy. He's been doing it for a long time, so we'll let him have that one. Anthony, the one who was at the Warriors? He's the blue OG. Yeah, he came to the Warriors game, didn't he? And there was a Warriors sort of knockoff Wiggles top with like a Warriors, the Warriors dresses the Wiggles.

Yeah, it said something on there. I forgot what it said. There was Warriors fan that gave him a shirt. Yeah, it was kind of like four of the Warriors looking like the Wiggles. And I think it had the Warriors in the Wiggle font. It felt like a lot of copyright infringement going on. Anthony's like, I'll use this in a court case, thank you.

Anthony, to his credit, was awesome. Put it on, got a photo, that was really cool. No, he loves it. Anthony really gets involved and that's what's great about him and that's why we are where we are today. It's his energy and enthusiasm, which we all love. The OG Wiggles, are they still sifting around Wiggles

HQ and like in a cupboard somewhere? Where do they stay? The original Jeff. Wake up, Jeff. He's floating around here every now and then. Murray comes in. Greg comes in. They're all in and out and they all kind of get involved in the back end sometimes.

And it's great to see them all together when they are. It's kind of like the Avengers returning to you. Yeah, it is. Oh, it's awesome. We can't wait to have you in New Zealand. End of September as well. Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, getting all around the country. Tickets will sell out, like they say, like's awesome. We can't wait to have you in New Zealand. End of September as well. Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch, getting all around the country.

Tickets will sell out, like they say, like hot potatoes. It'll be awesome to have you back. Awesome. Can't wait.