WHY EMMA REALLY WALKED AWAY

The beloved Yellow Wiggle felt she had no choice but to quit

With her ex-husband and co-star Lachy Gillespie still a constant in her life and her new fiance Oliver Brian also part of the Wiggles supergroup, Emma Watkins wanted a fresh start from what had become an increasingly strained situation.

The incredibly popular singer is the biggest money-spinner in the children’s entertainment empire, generating millions of dollars through a merchandising machine that pumps out hundreds of products under her name. “She had an eight per cent stake in the empire and a profit share on the royalties from all those products, but very little control over how her image was exploited, and Emma is very savvy when it comes to business,” explains one insider.

“I think she felt it was time to go, and you need to understand the merchandising bonanza was built on both her own name and the Wiggles. Those are Emma Wiggle products, not Yellow Wiggle products.

“She will continue to rake in millions from the Emma Wiggle merchandise, but this clean break also gives her an opportunity to build her own brand, separate to the Wiggles. I think she simply outgrew the band.”

BUILDING AN EMPIRE

But it wasn’t only the chance to build her own empire that inspired Emma, 32, to walk away after 11 years.