- 12 minutes ago
In this episode of Daddies, hosts Rob Stott and Marcus Hurley welcome singer, entertainer, and purple Wiggle John Pearce (Big Strong John). John opens up about his 20-month-old son Henry, how becoming a father completely reshaped how he performs on stage, and the wild reality of touring across North America with a toddler in tow.
From accidentally moving onto the same street as Anthony Field during COVID to balancing gym sessions, viral TikTok fame, and eating Uber Eats in dark hotel rooms whil
From accidentally moving onto the same street as Anthony Field during COVID to balancing gym sessions, viral TikTok fame, and eating Uber Eats in dark hotel rooms whil
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00Is Tonga Daddy or you?
00:02Oh, my daughter watches this.
00:10Did you try?
00:11Did I try?
00:13I'm not going to answer that question.
00:15Hi, welcome to another episode of Daddies, a podcast about life on the other side of
00:21fatherhood.
00:21I'm Rob from Man of Many.
00:23I'm Marcus from Man of Many.
00:25Toot toot, chugga chugga, welcome to Daddies.
00:28Yeah.
00:28Why do you say that?
00:29Well, it's just feeling wiggly in here.
00:31There's a wiggly dad in here.
00:34I think he's known as Big Strong John.
00:37He is.
00:37But we want to talk to John today.
00:39So let's throw it over to John.
00:42Hey.
00:43John, welcome to Daddies.
00:45Thanks for having me here.
00:46Yeah, mate.
00:47Absolute pleasure.
00:47Love the name, Daddies.
00:49You like the name?
00:49Yeah, we're a bunch of daddies.
00:52Yeah, we are.
00:52We are a bit.
00:53What do you think of that name?
00:55Yeah, it's good.
00:55Yeah?
00:55People call me that all the time on social media.
00:57I don't know what it means.
00:58Yeah, I bet they do.
00:59Oh, I am a dad.
01:03I said you were going to behave today, Rob.
01:06I love it.
01:06I love it.
01:07John.
01:07John Pierce.
01:08John Pierce.
01:09You're known by many different...
01:11I know.
01:11Aliases, yeah.
01:12Tell me why you're sitting in a daddy's studio today.
01:16I mean, surely you must be...
01:18I am a dad.
01:19Yeah.
01:20I'm a father to a little boy named Henry.
01:22He's 20 months.
01:23I've been counting the months.
01:24Mm-hmm.
01:25Yeah, it's been an amazing journey, and I'm very proud to be a dad.
01:28Yeah.
01:28It's actually been a crazy journey.
01:30It is a...
01:30Opening question.
01:31Oh.
01:31Yeah.
01:32Henry.
01:33Mm-hmm.
01:33Henry's his name.
01:34Named after the octopus?
01:35No, unfortunately it's not.
01:37It is a coincidence, but I do love the name Henry.
01:40Mm-hmm.
01:41It wasn't a thought when I was naming him that I was going to choose a Wiggles character.
01:45It's Henry or Wags.
01:47Yeah, I know.
01:47It's either that or Wags.
01:48Dorothy doesn't quite fit.
01:49But yeah, Henry, I just love the name.
01:51It's old school.
01:52It's simple.
01:52You can't get it wrong.
01:53Yeah.
01:54I didn't want to go to those crazy names.
01:56Like, you know, you can choose something obscure that's going to...
01:58So Henry...
01:59No one can spell it right.
02:00Yeah, it is spelt H-E-N-R-Y.
02:02There's not like some random...
02:04It's just a straight generic Henry.
02:06Yeah, brilliant.
02:06Can't get it wrong.
02:07Now, we have lots of questions for you, John.
02:10But we wanted to kickstart with maybe more your kind of entertainment demographic.
02:16Mm-hmm.
02:17So Rob, Billy is what, four years old?
02:20Four, yes.
02:20Turned four a couple of weeks ago.
02:21My daughter, Bino, five.
02:23We've definitely been through the Wiggles stage and it could come back.
02:28I remember taking one of my nieces, I think she was three or four, to the Wiggles.
02:34And there's a bit of a side story.
02:35You know, really into it, like watching you guys on TV.
02:40But as soon as she saw them, or you, in real life, it was instant kind of fear.
02:47Yeah.
02:47So, is that a kind of common occurrence?
02:49Yeah, it is.
02:50It actually is.
02:51I think it can get quite overwhelming, especially with young kids watching TV for a period of time and then
02:56seeing them in the flesh.
02:58Yeah.
02:58My son, on the other hand, is the opposite.
03:00But I think he sees them as family because he spends so much time with them off screen as well
03:07as seeing them on screen.
03:08So, I think for him, he's comfortable just running on stage.
03:11And like the other day, he ran on stage accidentally because he just showed, he was watching from the side
03:15with my wife and just ran on.
03:17He's just comfortable there.
03:18What happens when he runs on stage?
03:20Do you like?
03:22I just turn into dad, but I'm just like this going, hey, and all of a sudden I'm like, it's
03:27just, you just switch off and you're just like, oh, what are you doing on stage?
03:30Does he ever watch you on TV and then give you tips?
03:34Oh, you missed that dance step or that note was a little bit off.
03:37Not yet.
03:37Not yet.
03:38He's still young.
03:39He does know who I am on TV.
03:41He does call me daddy.
03:42He does know Big Strong John too.
03:43Yeah.
03:44And it's a pretty cute, cute, cute way to kind of interact with him and we watch it together.
03:49And it's not the only thing I put on for him.
03:51I don't want to be too biased.
03:52He does.
03:53He actually prefers Blippi, to be honest, at the moment, which is another show.
03:56But yeah, we try to work our way through and use it sparingly.
03:59We just don't want to put him on TV too much.
04:01We were not a Blippi household.
04:02I have never heard of Blippi.
04:04Oh, yeah, no.
04:05We're not big on Blippi.
04:05Henry loves him.
04:06We can't even pick.
04:07He just wants to watch him all the time.
04:09It's just, yeah, I don't know.
04:11He's just kind of in script this stuff sometimes.
04:12Okay.
04:13So, I've classically sidetracked us from where we were going.
04:16So, okay.
04:20We got questions.
04:21We both asked the girls last night.
04:23Oh, yeah.
04:23We got questions.
04:24What do they want to ask Big Strong John?
04:26Yeah.
04:26Okay.
04:27You reach this one.
04:27Yeah, go for it.
04:28Let me see if it's loud.
04:28What's your 1RM bench breath?
04:34This is a good one.
04:35Now, I'm going to hold it up to this mic and hopefully it captures it.
04:39What was your favorite wiggle?
04:41Oh, what was your favorite wiggle?
04:42What was your favorite wiggle?
04:44It's controversial.
04:44I can't pick a favorite wiggle.
04:45Can't choose yourself.
04:46I think I would have to say Anthony because he's the reason why the wiggles are around and
04:51they're still around and he's the reason why I'm a wiggle.
04:54So, I think.
04:55So, what was the recruitment process?
04:56Yeah, it was pretty straightforward.
04:58Look, I wasn't auditioning and thinking I was going to be a wiggle one day.
05:00It just kind of happened by accident.
05:02I think I was just around and I was actually living, me and my wife moved into the same
05:07street as Anthony by accident.
05:09Yeah, right, right.
05:10And during COVID when everything was kind of, you know, you couldn't leave your house, you
05:14couldn't do anything, stay into your neighborhood.
05:16I bumped into Anthony like every second day by accident and we just got to talking and
05:22that's just one thing led to another and I was in the position where I was out of the
05:26spotlight with Justice Crew kind of doing their own thing and Anthony just asked me one day
05:31just to come into the studio.
05:33Yeah, and then basically the rest is history.
05:35And was this the period where, because when I was a kid, four wiggles, the originals, right?
05:40Eight wiggles.
05:40This was the period where we expanded?
05:42That was that period, yeah.
05:42Yeah.
05:43So, it wasn't even a thing yet.
05:44Yeah, this was, Anthony actually invited me into Wiggletown.
05:49It's a real place.
05:50Where is Wiggletown?
05:51Wiggletown is in Bella Vista.
05:52Can you put that into Google Maps?
05:54Yeah, you can.
05:55Okay.
05:55Yeah, yeah.
05:56Hot Potato Studios is actually a map.
05:59It sounds like a joke.
06:00It's a real place.
06:02I mean, if you ever have to go into a job interview in the future, and hopefully you're with the
06:07Wiggles for a while, but if you sit there and go, hey, tell us about your previous employment
06:11and you're starting to do this kind of stuff and you're talking about Wiggles.
06:14And Hot Potato Studios.
06:16Yeah.
06:16I'm not entirely sure how serious they're going to take you.
06:19Yeah, I know.
06:19I don't know.
06:19It could be wrong.
06:20I don't know.
06:21It just depends on what job I'm going for, I guess.
06:23If I became a police officer.
06:26So, follow-up question, actually.
06:28Look, we didn't coordinate this, I swear.
06:29No, that's all right.
06:30This was Billy's question.
06:31I'll hold it up to the mic as well.
06:32Hold on.
06:33Billy.
06:34Billy, yeah.
06:37What do you like most about your favorite Wiggle?
06:41What do you like most about your favorite Wiggle?
06:44Oh, okay.
06:45So, it was Anthony.
06:48He's just, if you've met Anthony, he is like a 17-year-old kid.
06:53He's full of energy.
06:54I've met him.
06:55And it was at a premiere of some kind.
06:57He was wearing a kilt.
06:59And then he told me a story about, oh, next time I wear a kilt, I'm definitely not going
07:02to ride my bike to this premiere.
07:05So, he's very open and honest.
07:07Yeah, he talks to anybody.
07:09He makes friends with everyone.
07:10It's just such a good vibe.
07:11If you're feeling down or you're feeling flat, once Anthony walks into the room, you just
07:15snap out of it.
07:16It's just so contagious, his energy.
07:17Is that why he's still a Wiggle?
07:19Probably.
07:20I don't know.
07:20Because the others have moved on.
07:21Lug's his job, yeah.
07:22But he's hanging around.
07:23Yeah, it's inspiring.
07:25Yeah.
07:25Because he's over 60 and he's just living his best life.
07:28He's still got the moves.
07:29Yeah, I know.
07:30Yeah, he's pretty good.
07:31I watched a bit of Wiggles last night.
07:33Because I take my job seriously, I watched some Wiggles last night.
07:37Yeah, no, no.
07:38I just got the toot-toot, chug-a-chug-a.
07:41We'll find out the rose.
07:42I find it impossible to believe that, and we will talk about being a dad, but the Wiggles
07:47thing is very interesting.
07:49I find it hard to believe that in the ecosystem of the Wiggles, that you would be low energy
07:54and down.
07:55Like, don't you walk into hot potato studios and go, we're ready to go.
07:59You do, you do.
08:00But like everyone else, we're people, we're humans.
08:03You do have days where maybe you haven't slept, like after having a baby, maybe for a whole
08:07year.
08:08But there are days where you feel flat and demotivated, but, you know, just turning up
08:11and it's just, it's not like you're faking the smile, but it's, you just have to work
08:16harder that day.
08:17But it's, it's a fun, fun environment.
08:20Wiggles are people too.
08:21We're real people.
08:22Wiggles are people too.
08:23Sorry, it's just like, it's like never meet your heroes kind of thing.
08:26I just don't.
08:28Oh, here's a good one.
08:31Be careful how you answer this.
08:32Okay.
08:34You strong, Daddy, or you?
08:37Who's strong?
08:41Oh, oh.
08:43This wasn't part of, Jesus, all right.
08:45What is that glad for me?
08:46I'm nervous.
08:47You know, every time I see an arm wrestle, I just think that.
08:48Now, my daughter watches this, so just.
08:51Oh, check it out.
08:52Look at that.
08:53You're in trouble.
08:54Are you ready?
08:54Pretty good there.
08:55I was very nervous.
08:56Three, two, one.
08:57Okay.
08:59Oh.
09:00Oh, you used to try one.
09:02Did I try?
09:03I'm not going to answer that question.
09:04No, I just, I picture that.
09:06There's a footy show episode where they were doing an arm wrestle.
09:08Yeah, I remember.
09:09Every time I do an arm wrestle.
09:10Well, I know the technique of.
09:12Do you pull into.
09:13Yeah.
09:14Because apparently muscles can't go.
09:16Beano, I'm really sorry.
09:17I'll go to the gym.
09:18That's, I mean, if you.
09:20If you're going to lose to anyone.
09:21Yeah.
09:21Big struggle.
09:22Is it your turn now?
09:22Yeah, yeah, yeah.
09:23I think I've got one more.
09:24Hang on.
09:24Oh.
09:25No, no.
09:26We're not even going to.
09:27He offered his left hand.
09:28I am left-handed.
09:30Yeah.
09:31All right.
09:31I mean, this is, you know, we'll see how this one goes.
09:34You are super strong and how do you get so strong and you're super, duper, duper strong
09:43to carry very heavy stuff.
09:46That was very cute.
09:49So, I think that was, you're super, duper strong.
09:51Okay.
09:51How do you get so strong?
09:53You're super, duper strong to carry very heavy stuff.
09:56Answer that however you want.
09:57Sounds like a song.
09:58Sounds like a song.
09:59You can do the song.
10:00If we see that on the Wiggles.
10:01That turns up on the Wiggles.
10:02I want to credit.
10:04Yeah.
10:04Well, to get strong, you've got to eat all your food, eat a lot of vegetables, fruit,
10:08fruit salad.
10:09Yummy, yummy.
10:10But in real life, you know, just as active as possible, play sports, sleep well, and
10:15listen to your parents, I would say.
10:16Did you hear that, kids?
10:17He really ran into Wiggles.
10:18He did.
10:19Yeah.
10:19That was good.
10:20It's just my mind just goes like this.
10:21It's like a, it's a pretty, it's just.
10:24Okay.
10:24Well, thank you for asking those very hard-hitting questions and we'll get on with the pod,
10:28shall we?
10:29Excellent.
10:30Yeah, sure.
10:31Because you just got back from a tour, didn't you?
10:32Yeah, a world tour.
10:33How long were you waiting for?
10:34We were in the US and Canada.
10:36It was about three and a half weeks.
10:38It's a shorter stint than what we normally do, but I think it was just the West Coast,
10:43New York side.
10:44That's the West Coast.
10:44East Coast.
10:45Sorry.
10:45East Coast.
10:46East Coast.
10:46Yeah.
10:47Yeah.
10:47Was there a Wiggles song about the cardinal directions?
10:50There probably is.
10:50There's over four and a half thousand Wiggles songs.
10:52What?
10:52I probably only know a thousand of them.
10:55I don't know.
10:56Four and a half thousand or something?
10:57Yeah, there is so many Wiggles songs.
10:58Jeez.
10:59But the States was really cool.
11:00We just got back yesterday.
11:02My family came, so my wife and son Henry.
11:06We traveled everywhere.
11:07We did everything that the touring party did, except we had to have our own car because we've
11:12got our family there.
11:13So, I had to do all the drives as well and the parenting in between shows and traveling
11:18and missing fleets.
11:19So, let's talk about the parenting in between shows because you're up on stage, thousands
11:24of screaming kids and probably mums in your case.
11:27A couple of dads.
11:28And so, you finish your show.
11:32Obviously, it's great to be able to kind of go home and be with your family.
11:37But what's it like when you're absolutely exhausted?
11:41And Henry, we were talking before we hit record, is quite rambunctious.
11:47What's it like?
11:48How do you kind of get that second wind or kind of keep going?
11:52It is hard.
11:53It's not easy.
11:54He's like Chucky.
11:55I've been calling him Chucky.
11:56Just running around constantly.
11:58It's fun.
11:58I love it.
11:59The energy is fun.
12:00It's probably the thought of relieving my wife from being there all day because she's
12:05traveling too.
12:06She's around it.
12:07She doesn't actually get a break.
12:09For me, being on stage, going to soundcheck, that's a break from actual parenting.
12:14So, the parenting is the actual work.
12:16This is like the fun break.
12:18Yeah, gotcha.
12:19But we try to work it out.
12:20He does that one sleep a day and when the shows line up, we have two to three shows a
12:25day.
12:25So, we might, I'll go and do the first show and my wife, Jess, and Henry will stay in
12:29the hotel.
12:30They'll have breakfast and then she'll play with him, take him out to the park or whatever,
12:34put him for a nap and then come to the last show and we'll spend that time together.
12:38And then we go home and he'll be in bed and we just sit in the dark hotel room just
12:42eating
12:42Uber Eats in the dark until the morning and do it all again.
12:47So, it seems quite manageable.
12:49I mean, you seem, again, we were talking off camera and you were talking about kind of
12:56forming a connection with Henry before he even arrived.
12:59And so, when you found out that you were going to be a dad, did something switch or did you
13:05go into kind of planning mode or go, it's like, how am I going to best do this?
13:08Like, what was your approach to that?
13:10Which is now allowed things to seem rather easy is a bad word, but smooth.
13:16It's, it is like every day, none of us know what we're doing really.
13:19We're just all kind of guessing.
13:21That's why we started to figure it out.
13:23We're all just kind of, yeah, we're just kind of fluking it in a way.
13:25There's no manual for it.
13:26There are books that help you understand how they grow and what to expect, but it's still
13:31like every child is different.
13:33Everyone's experiences are different and you can only prepare so much.
13:36And I just tried to be as ready as possible to, I probably outlined like the worst case
13:41scenario, like if they don't sleep or if they vomit all the time off.
13:45You know, you just plan the worst case, you know, it's, it's a beautiful thing.
13:50I think not many people talk about how good it is, but a lot of people talk about how much
13:54sleep you miss and the dad bod and all that sort of stuff, but it's, it's the best thing
13:58in the world.
13:58And it's, I think we should be talking more about how much it changes you and your priorities
14:02and how much it gives you energy.
14:04Well, then you've just given us the question, how has it changed you and changed your priorities?
14:09Um, I guess background justice crew, um, that kind of being in the spotlight now you kind
14:17of, you're still in the spotlight in a different way, but now you get to focus more on being
14:22a debt, I suppose.
14:23How is, how, how have priorities changed?
14:25It's, um, it changes like in the sense of, I've always prioritized my relationship and
14:31family.
14:31Um, it probably now Henry's number one, everything goes there first, then the relationship takes
14:38a backseat for a second and then it's family.
14:40So it, it kind of, and just trying to, you don't want to neglect any part of that.
14:45So I just try to just keep everything in balance, but I don't know.
14:50It's like your one eye is just constantly looking down and you just, you can't actually relax
14:55ever.
14:57You can't actually just sit down and switch off.
14:59Like the moment I go take a shower, like that's my two minutes of just like, you can
15:03just daydream and actually think about knuckle for a second.
15:06Oh, do you actually get to have a shower?
15:07Yeah.
15:07With Henry on the floor playing.
15:10I just, the, the constant daddy, daddy.
15:13And I've, I've let Beno know, I'm going to go have a shower.
15:15Yeah.
15:16And I think, okay, cool.
15:17She knows.
15:17And she's what?
15:18Five.
15:19So.
15:19Yeah.
15:20To play.
15:22Yeah.
15:22Um, but even my shower time, it's just daddy, knock, knock, knock, daddy.
15:27And I was like, the frustration.
15:30Got to get out, chuck the wiggles on and just say, Hey, look at this quickly.
15:32And just dart out.
15:32Oh, is that what you do?
15:33Yeah.
15:34Yeah.
15:34Sometimes.
15:34Yeah.
15:35If, if my wife's not there.
15:37Just chuck yourself on the TV.
15:39Hey, what's this?
15:39I know this bit is entertaining for the next two minutes.
15:42So I'll just, I know I've got a good song.
15:43Two minutes.
15:44This is a really good song.
15:45Yeah.
15:45Hey, look at this.
15:46It's Five Little Frogs again.
15:47You know, like.
15:49It's just, yeah.
15:49Does he have a favorite song?
15:50A favorite wiggles song?
15:51He does.
15:52He loves Bouncing Balls, which is a, it's a fun song.
15:54That's my favorite song.
15:55Oh, excuse me.
15:56It's one of the newer Bouncing Balls.
15:57That's one of the newer ones.
15:58Yeah.
15:58It's a new song.
16:00It's all about sports and balls and it's a, it's a fun song.
16:03And a one, two, three.
16:05He goes, bouncing, bouncing balls.
16:07Yeah.
16:07Let's bounce some balls.
16:10Bouncing balls on the ground or against the wall.
16:12The constant eye contact.
16:14That was beautiful.
16:14That was really good.
16:15That was good.
16:17Chuck it on YouTube.
16:19I love it.
16:20Favorite color.
16:21Oh, I think we should definitely do a Bouncing Balls rendition.
16:25You can sing.
16:26I can't sing.
16:27Oh, everyone can sing.
16:28My mom says everyone can sing.
16:29It's how you bounce the ball.
16:30It's how you bounce.
16:31It's how you bounce.
16:32What's your favorite color?
16:33Yellow, red, blue.
16:36What?
16:37Oh, the balls.
16:38Oh, you're right, yeah.
16:40I thought that was your favorite song.
16:42It's in the song.
16:45So we talked about balance and obviously being big, strong John.
16:50John, to me, that would be a lot of professional pressure because if you can't let yourself
16:56go, you become like slow, weak John, that might not have the same ring to it.
17:00I know.
17:01How do you find the time to balance fitness?
17:03Stay in shape.
17:04Yes.
17:05There we go.
17:06It's a blessing and a curse, having the name big, strong John.
17:09It's a good thing.
17:10I'm young now and I was a PT for many years and I train a lot.
17:14That's one of my hobbies and my outlets.
17:15So it's a good thing.
17:17But I do think down the track, like Jeff and Lockie, they fall asleep.
17:22You can keep falling asleep.
17:23You can keep falling asleep for years.
17:26Staying big and strong, I don't know.
17:27It's going to hit a wall soon.
17:28Like testosterone drops after 35 and I don't know.
17:31Did you get to choose that?
17:32Like, was that, like, did you need that persona or were they like, oh, this could work for you?
17:37Yeah, who chose, did you choose to be big, strong John?
17:39Did someone?
17:39Yeah, I think it was, it was probably an Anthony thing or one of the board members.
17:43We did have a meeting, you know, going through our hobbies and what we like to do because
17:46each character is essentially an extension of our real self.
17:50And at the time I was just, you know, I was a PT and I was trying to be a
17:53firefighter and
17:54one of the hobbies was I'd love to go to the gym.
17:56Firefighter?
17:57There we go.
17:58Okay.
17:58Could have been a firefighter wiggle.
17:59No, but you know, big, strong, John, I think kids love it.
18:02Yeah.
18:02It's like a superhero.
18:03It's like, who's that guy that does the push-ups from?
18:07Spar, Sportacus.
18:08Who is Sportacus?
18:09I don't know who Sportacus is.
18:10I don't know who Sportacus is.
18:12Sportacus is like an old-fashioned, he's like a superhero who does all these push-ups,
18:17but it's a kid's show.
18:18Look it up.
18:19I believe you.
18:19I only know because people comment on some of the things from Sportacus.
18:22I feel like I'm being dad-mogged here.
18:26Are you a real dad?
18:27Can you watch kid stuff?
18:28It's scorted out.
18:30Well, no, you've got this beautiful, like, catalogue to reference from all, like, the
18:34Wiggles songs and the Wiggles tracks, and I'm just, okay, no, this is good.
18:39This is why I'm here.
18:41We started this podcast to learn, to develop, and now you've learned about Sportacus.
18:45Sportacus.
18:45Sportacus.
18:46This guy does one-arm push-ups and he does these challenges.
18:48He was an ex-gymnast, like an Olympian, I'm pretty sure.
18:51And this is your, like, hero slash inspiration.
18:52Oh, I didn't watch it.
18:53I only knew about it because someone said, like, I do push-up videos as well on my social
18:57media, and someone said, ah, Sportacus.
18:59Okay.
19:00So, I did my own Google.
19:01The social's big for you too, isn't it?
19:03Yeah.
19:03One of my favorite videos of you is the one that was going viral on TikTok a while ago.
19:10You were in the background doing the vampire.
19:12Can you show me the vampire?
19:13Yeah, that's the one.
19:15It's all in the body.
19:17Tucky Top Libba.
19:17Oh, who didn't do that back in school?
19:20When you guys are, like, recording, you know, and it's someone else's song and often you
19:24guys are in the background, you guys seem to be having a lot of fun back there, just messing
19:28around.
19:29We just have as much fun as possible so that when I watch it back, I can kind of go,
19:33you
19:33guys see what I'm doing in the back there?
19:34Like, it's just funny.
19:36And it's all just chaos at the end of the day, and it's just entertainment.
19:39But I try to make myself laugh when I watch it back or show my wife or my brother.
19:42It works.
19:43Yeah, it's fun.
19:44That did go viral.
19:45Yeah, it was ridiculous.
19:46It was ridiculous.
19:47So, I have a confession to make.
19:50I had, so Rob and I had the idea to ask our daughters to record those questions for you.
19:59And I think I told Rob, I knew what was going to happen when I spoke to Beno.
20:04I would go, hey, do you have any questions for Big Strong John?
20:07And she would say something along the lines of, I want you to ask, or I don't know.
20:14And so, I was quite excited because I was like, wouldn't it be cute for being able to be able
20:17to ask you questions?
20:19I got shamefully very frustrated because I ended up feeding her the questions and she just went quiet.
20:29And this is me kind of confessing, there's a bad dad moment by me, like no yelling, but just this
20:35kind of, why can't you just ask the question?
20:42And I suppose I'd tell you that story because I want to say, like 20 months, obviously you've got the
20:50sleepless nights and you've got the moment eating, you've got the constant changing of nappies.
20:54But have there been moments, not of regret because that's quite strong, but have there been moments going, how did
21:01this happen and how did I get here?
21:05And like being a dad in general, every day, it's not that I'm like, why am I here?
21:13Sometimes me and my wife stand back because Henry's sitting there and he's doing something that we didn't even teach
21:18him.
21:18He's just started doing or started saying a word or started saying, thank you, mummy, or like, please, daddy.
21:24Or, you know, it's just using those little manners that we didn't really kind of force on him, but he's
21:27just observed it.
21:28That's all we do.
21:29That doesn't go away.
21:30Yeah.
21:31And sometimes that gets better and better.
21:32Yeah.
21:33And as they get older, it's just so amazing for us to sit back and we're just going like, like,
21:36this is like, how awesome is this?
21:38This is awesome.
21:39Like, this is crazy.
21:39Everyone should be experiencing this.
21:41Yeah.
21:42I love it.
21:42I really want to get a negative story out of him, but he just.
21:46He's too positive.
21:46Well, he did.
21:47He's too wiggly.
21:48Pooed in the bath in the day.
21:49He pooed in my lap.
21:50He's just.
21:52Poo in the bath is a good one.
21:53Yeah.
21:53We've had a few poos in bath.
21:55Yeah.
21:55Henry's sitting in my lap after a nap, but he was still not finished the nap and I was tired.
22:00So, he was just sitting there and I was like, this is comfortable.
22:02What a father-son moment this is.
22:04I was like, I'm just letting him watch the TVs on my lap.
22:06I'm going to fall asleep for two seconds.
22:08I woke up and his nappy was half pulled down.
22:10His poo was out.
22:11It was smid on my gray pants, tracksuit.
22:14Great.
22:15And it's just poo all over me and him.
22:18Love that.
22:18I was at home by myself.
22:19Can I?
22:20There's a song of a dog in the head.
22:21I haven't told this one on the podcast yet.
22:23Can I tell you my worst story?
22:25Yeah.
22:25Yes.
22:26Yeah.
22:26Not from me, from Billy.
22:27Personal story.
22:28Yeah.
22:29We might cut this out later because it's not, it's disgusting.
22:31So, we are, we are, we're away for the weekend, long weekend, up visiting my sister in far
22:40north Queensland.
22:42And we're staying in this little hotel and Billy was about, probably about the same age
22:46as Henry is.
22:47And we could, you know, the hotel had like a travel cot set up for us.
22:52You know, those travel cots, they've, they've got like, you know, it's the cheap Kmart one
22:56or whatever.
22:56And it's got like the mesh side of the travel cot, you know?
23:00And so, we wake up in the morning, sun's coming up, lovely day, it's quiet, she's still asleep.
23:06And eventually we hear her start to stir.
23:08And so, Tony, my husband gets up to go in and see her.
23:12And I just hear him go, oh, Billy.
23:17Is that?
23:18And then it turned out the reason, because the reason he got up was she was, she didn't
23:26usually sleep in this long and she was just a bit too quiet.
23:28And we were like, this is weird, she doesn't usually, you know, so it was like, go check
23:30in, check in, I don't know, because she didn't, you're always afraid that something's wrong.
23:34She had woken up, done a poo, taken her nappy off, taken the poo out of the nappy, and then
23:42smeared the whole thing through the mesh of the travel cot.
23:46Oh, pretty.
23:47Yeah.
23:48And if you've, and it was a brand new travel cot, they bought it specially for us, because
23:52we told them we were coming.
23:54This is a hotel room, though.
23:55A hotel or an Airbnb.
23:56It's like a rental car.
23:56You can just leave it.
23:57Yeah.
23:58I couldn't, we couldn't do that to them, so I had to clean it out myself.
24:02And that was, that, that was, that was maybe one of the lowest points of parenting so far
24:07for me, actually.
24:08That was, it was, it was not a small one either.
24:12Yeah, wading through another human's feces is humbling.
24:15I can't recall, I don't think I have a poo story.
24:18I remember the first nappy I changed, there was a little bit of hesitation and going, oh.
24:23But I think after the first one, I was like, okay, that is, that is normal.
24:27And it's kind of flowed onto, there's a weird thing to say, but it's flowed onto other aspects
24:31of my life.
24:32You know when you put like leftovers and you're cleaning off the plate and the sink and there's
24:37a whole bunch of whatnot in the drain.
24:40Yeah.
24:40Like my ability to just pick that up and put it in the bin now.
24:43Yes.
24:44Easy.
24:45I do that all the time, just using bare hands.
24:46Yeah.
24:47Yeah.
24:48What's the kitchen glove?
24:48I don't think people have used kitchen gloves for 20 years.
24:51Once you've cleaned a poo out of the mesh in a travel cot, there's nothing you can't do.
24:55It was bare hands.
24:56Was it?
24:56There was gloves, yeah.
24:58Yeah, it was disgusting.
24:59It was awful.
25:00It was, it was really bad.
25:02Remind me never to shake your hands again.
25:05It was a couple of years ago.
25:06That's the best.
25:06I'm wrestling.
25:08Yeah, I'm wrestling.
25:10Now, look, there's a lot more that we kind of want to cover if you've got time to
25:16solve things.
25:18Um, I was going to read some questions that I hope resonate with you.
25:23Um, what's something fatherhood has taught you that being a wiggle absolutely did not
25:28prepare you for?
25:30So it's the, like you're performing for kids, you know how to kind of communicate with them.
25:35But what has Henry kind of thrown at you going, oh, that's unexpected.
25:39Yeah.
25:39I think being a wiggle, like my background is not even in childhood education.
25:44It's not a teacher.
25:45I'm an entertainer.
25:46I was in justice group for years.
25:48So being a wiggle was by accident.
25:50So like what I learned at the wiggles, you know, it was, you know, how to sing and dance
25:54to children and how to communicate with children through performance.
25:58Being a parent is a totally different thing.
25:59I feel like once you become a parent, it almost altered the way I became a wiggle because
26:04I started communicating differently as if I was talking to my son and he would respond
26:09differently to what I imagined it would have been like if I wasn't a parent.
26:12So you think being a dad has made you a better?
26:14Has made me a better wiggle.
26:15That's beautiful.
26:16Oh, I want to really flip that.
26:18That was unexpected.
26:19No, but it has.
26:20It's different.
26:21I mean, you can talk about being a parent before you become a parent, but when you are, it's
26:25so different.
26:26You have to go through it and experience all the ups and downs and the challenges and
26:29sleepless nights to realize like how important, what's important and what's not.
26:34I feel like, yeah, it's crazy.
26:36It's beautiful.
26:36And within the Wiggles community, it's a hot potato studio.
26:41Are there a lot of other kind of parent Wiggles and parents around there that you can kind
26:46of, because we've discussed how it takes a tribe to kind of raise a child.
26:50How helpful have they been in terms of, have you gone to them with, hey, Anthony, can you
26:56help me out with this?
26:57That kind of network.
26:58Yeah.
26:58At work.
26:59There's a few other parents.
27:00Like Anthony's got three kids himself and his daughter, Lucia, is a Wiggles.
27:03So she's in Wiggles and Simon's got a little boy and Lucky's got twin girls and Katerina's
27:09just had two twin girls too, which have been on the road.
27:12So there are other parents and help with their hands at the Wiggles, but they're all, you
27:16know, with their different stories and journeys.
27:18There's only so much help and advice you can get from other people.
27:21It still doesn't really, like everyone's own story is so different.
27:25So someone else's problem can be, oh, that's easy for us.
27:29Like he's eating his food, but he's not sleeping through the night or he's still breastfeeding
27:33it 20 months.
27:34Like it's like everyone has a different problem.
27:37So it's, it's more, more so than just talking it out and sharing those experiences, ups and
27:41downs that make you feel a bit better.
27:43And the, and the breastfeeding thing.
27:45Oh, here we go.
27:46Oh, can I say this?
27:47Beano, if you're watching this in like 10 years, I'm sorry.
27:50Beano is still in pull-ups for bedtime.
27:54Yep.
27:54And I'll be honest, there's like this, so I've never really experienced her wetting the
28:00bed.
28:00And for some reason there's this fear in my head going, that would be the worst thing.
28:05I'd have to get up at two o'clock in the morning and change sheets.
28:09I'm wondering, like, do you have one of those things that you're holding onto because there's
28:13just this nice comfort level?
28:16Time your stasis.
28:17We're trying to transition at the moment.
28:19We're trying to teach her to do the way before bed so that we can get through the night.
28:24Exactly the same.
28:24We get through some nights, but not every night.
28:27And yeah, it's going to be a thing.
28:29I think it's unavoidable though, right?
28:30You've got to do it at some point.
28:31And you know what you don't want?
28:32You don't want your kid to be the last one left, still wearing the nappy to bed.
28:37But I don't think they'd know.
28:39Like, who's going to know?
28:41Sleepovers.
28:41Oh.
28:42Mmm.
28:47Oh, joint fatherhood realisation.
28:51Okay.
28:52Well, I do, again, I apologise to Beno in 10 years, and hopefully that clit never surfaces
28:59in her school.
29:02So, another question that I've prepared, because I want to get it right.
29:06Marcus is much more prepared than I am.
29:07You watch the Wiggles, mate.
29:09Yeah, that's true.
29:09We never prepare.
29:10We just wing it on the day.
29:11We learn choreography on set.
29:13Do you really?
29:14Yeah.
29:14I suppose, you must like-
29:15Like the song's being loaded up.
29:17Yeah, the song's being loaded up.
29:18And we're going, okay, so what do we do?
29:20And then, are you ready for a take?
29:22I mean, I don't want to shame the Wiggles, but like, my knowledge of your choreography,
29:26it's not that.
29:28It's simple moves.
29:29Yeah.
29:29Yeah, it is.
29:30Sorry, that was really-
29:31You did shame.
29:32He beat me in an armour, so-
29:35It is simple.
29:36Like, he beat me.
29:38I wasn't even in that armour.
29:39It was-
29:40I mean, it was never in town.
29:42Mate, it was-
29:43It's all set up.
29:43It's making me look strong.
29:44Of course, I've never experienced that.
29:46So, your son is growing up watching thousands of children adore you.
29:50Yeah.
29:51What do you hope that he knows about you that they don't?
29:56Yeah, I don't know.
29:57That is a good question.
29:58Yeah.
29:59Because he sees me at home all the time.
30:03Yeah, I don't know.
30:04It's like everyone else's children, and they know me as Big Strong John.
30:10I go, oh, ah, that's my character.
30:14Yeah, Henry sees me at home, you know, punching the walls out of me.
30:20Big Anger John.
30:21I'm like, I'm still the same-
30:22Like, it's-
30:22I'm still the same person, but I'm obviously not-
30:24I don't talk like, hey, everybody.
30:26I don't talk like that to him.
30:28Oh, God, yeah.
30:29When you slip into wiggle mode, it, like, triggers something in the back of my room.
30:32You know what I can't now?
30:33When I have to do a voiceover as myself, I can't do that.
30:36If I'm just being like a wiggle, it's so much easier.
30:39Yeah.
30:39I have to read something.
30:40Yeah, you're a methodist.
30:41Yeah, you're becoming the character.
30:43It's beautiful.
30:43Taking that front body.
30:44Yeah.
30:45Was there a moment when Henry, like, there must have been a period where he went, like,
30:51hang on a minute.
30:52Yeah.
30:53That's that guy.
30:54I know that guy.
30:55Yeah, I think he was watching The Wiggles one day, and he said, daddy, when I was on screen.
30:59Because after The Wiggles, the episode finishes, he goes, hey, subscribe to our channel.
31:03Sometimes it's me, sometimes there's another wiggle.
31:05And it was one of those moments where he was just sitting there watching, and he was just
31:08like, dada.
31:09And then we're like, did he say dada?
31:11Did he say?
31:11Yeah.
31:12And then a few times I put it on, and he says dada.
31:14I put it on a Justice Group video clip, and he'll still say the same thing, dada.
31:18We're not in the skimmy.
31:19Yeah.
31:20For we, toot, toot, chugga, chugga, say goodbye.
31:25Now, dad jokes.
31:26We like to finish with dad jokes.
31:29Again, our intern, Ervin, catalog of them, he's given me one.
31:33I'm going to try and remember it.
31:34You were here when he told me.
31:35Yeah, yeah.
31:36So, just, okay.
31:37I've got a dog called Minton, who ate a shuttlecock last night.
31:43Bad Minton.
31:44Hmm.
31:46I don't get it.
31:47You're supposed to be good at acting.
31:49I don't get it.
31:49Give me a lie.
31:51You get it?
31:52Explain it.
31:54No, I can't.
31:55Well, like, okay, so you don't actually, like, okay.
31:57So, a shuttlecock is the thing you-
31:59You play in Mad Minton.
32:00Hey, John, do you have a dad joke?
32:02I've got one.
32:03Yeah, let's go.
32:04Please save this.
32:06What do you call a bear with no teeth?
32:09Hmm?
32:10A gummy bear.
32:12Jeez, I asked you to save it.
32:14Like, it weirdly made me want to have a gummy bear, though.
32:17So, there you go.
32:18All right, I think it's time for us to wrap this up.
32:20Yeah, are we done?
32:20Are we done?
32:20All right.
32:20All right, this has been another episode of Daddy's.
32:24Thank you for tuning in.
32:25Please like, comment, share, subscribe, tell your friends, all that kind of stuff.
32:30I've been Rob.
32:32I've been Marcus.
32:32I've had a really wiggly time.
32:34No, a wiggly time.
32:35I've had a wiggly time.
32:36A wiggly, wiggly time.
32:37Oh, stop.
32:38John, have you had a wiggly time?
32:40I've had a good time.
32:43It's been good.
32:45So, you've been Rob.
32:46I've been Rob.
32:47I've been John.
32:47I've been Marcus.
32:49And you've been great.
32:52All right.
32:53Wasn't anyone doing the fingers with me?
32:54Oh, fingers.
32:55Fingers.
33:20Awesome.
33:22All right.
33:24All right.
33:39Now, let's go.
33:41You
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