EXCLUSIVE: Why Emma Watkins left The Wiggles: “It’s difficult to move on when you’re spending so much time with your ex”

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.”

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

“She and Lachy do have a great relationship for exes, but it’s difficult to completely move on when you’re spending so much time with your ex,” shares our insider.

“She’s genuinely thrilled he found someone else and became a dad, but naturally it’s also a bit painful.”

Emma has been open about her battle with stage four endometriosis, which forced her to withdraw from a number of shows in 2018 before she had surgery to alleviate the pain.

The condition can make it very difficult to conceive a baby.

“Emma is the most generous and giving person you will ever meet, and she would never want her personal pain to overshadow Lachy’s joy – but the truth is it hasn’t been easy.

“My heart breaks for her,” our insider says of Emma watching Lachy and his fiancee, Wiggles dancer Dana Stephensen welcome twin daughters, Lottie and Lulu last year.

She broke down in tears talking about her “bittersweet” departure from the Wiggles last week.

“It really has meant the world to me. I will miss everybody,” an emotional Emma admitted, explaining the pandemic and spending more time at home had made her realise what she was missing being away on tour so often.

Emma has also found love again three years after her two-year marriage to Lachy ended, announcing her engagement to Wiggles guitar and banjo player Oliver in April.

The couple have moved from Sydney to near Emma’s parents in the NSW Southern Highlands, and with her multimillion-dollar exit package from the Wiggles, she and Oliver are looking to a beautiful new life together.

“I’m ready for something new and it’s the right time,” she says. “I feel really happy.”

A Wiggles spokesperson has since told Woman’s Day that they deny all claims put forward from our sources.