For the past 13 years, Simon Pryce has been busy entertaining youngsters around the world as the Red Wiggle.
But when he’s not belting out the band’s classic hits like ‘Fruit Salad’ and ‘Hot Potato’, he’s a hands-on dad to his five-year-old son Asher, who loves to watch Simon perform on stage!
“Asher has his little red skivvy that he wears to our shows and it says Daddy on the back, which is pretty cute,” Simon shares with Woman’s Day during an exclusive photoshoot at his home in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs.
“He loves music and sport, but at his age it’s really hard to know what direction he’ll go in but he loves to sing and he plays the guitar and keyboard.”
Life on the road
From October until December, Simon, 54, and the rest of the Wiggles will be travelling around Australia for their Sparkle! Big Show tour – and Simon says Asher is excited to be coming along for the ride.
“He’ll definitely be coming to our Sydney shows,” Simon says. “He and my wife Lauren used to tour with us all the time… I think the first tour Asher went on was to New Zealand when he was just eight weeks old.”
In any given year, The Wiggles spend nine months performing worldwide for their young fans.
This year, the iconic band and their pals Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog, Henry the Octopus and fan-favourite, the Tree of Wisdom, have already performed all across the US and Canada, and will also be crossing the ditch for a few shows in New Zealand.
“It’s always really lovely to finish a tour back home in Australia,” tells Simon.
“Sometimes in America we’re on the road for weeks at a time, but back here it’s not such a hard slog.”
Keeping fit while travelling
With The Wiggles performing roughly 500 shows each year – plus being a dad to a rambunctious five-year-old – keeping healthy and active is a top priority for Simon.
Luckily, his wife Lauren, 40, who is an ex-elite gymnast and personal trainer, is more than happy to help him stay in tip-top shape.
“All of Lauren’s workouts are bodyweight training and they’re all really functional,” says Simon.
“Lauren has an extreme level of fitness and I’m somewhere in the middle. But having her motivation, skill and knowledge has been a huge help in maintaining my fitness.”
A Wiggly love story
He’s not the first Wiggle to fall in love with a colleague, but Simon definitely has his job to thank for meeting the love of his life.
The pair first became friends while touring together in 2011, when Lauren was the group’s gymnastics coach, as well as playing various characters, and Simon was starting out as Ringo the Ringmaster, before later becoming the Red Wiggle.
The friendship soon blossomed into love, and they tied the knot in a beautiful celebration at Sydney’s Luna Park with the rest of their Wiggles gang cheering them on. Now it’s less touring together and more precious time spent at home with their lively boy Asher.
“Asher is just nonstop!” Simon laughs.
“He always wants to go to bike parks and kick the footy around… He’s very physical and wants to be active all the time.”
But when things are more quiet and relaxed, both Simon and Lauren make sure the screens are away so they can focus on having as much fun as possible with each other – which Simon admits can be a challenge at times.
“I’m six foot four [193cm] and when I’m crawling around on the ground, the joints can be a bit more sore than they used to be,” he says. “But it’s important that I put myself aside in those moments for Asher, so I can engage and play with him on his level.”
Prioritising family
While chatting with Simon, it’s clear he’s passionate about being the best parent he can be, and he’s hoping to encourage other parents as well, through his podcast, Wiggle Talk.
Each week, he and Purple Wiggle Lachlan Gillespie share stories of their favourite, funny and tricky moments that come with raising little ones.
“We started the podcast because we had questions about parenting, and Lachy and I thought if we have them, then other parents must have them too,” Simon shares.
“Together we’ve learned through talking to some incredible parenting experts that it’s so important to be present with your family.”
Although The Wiggles boast a discography of more than 60 albums and 2500 songs, Simon reveals they rarely get played while he’s at home.
“Classical music has always been my thing,” Simon reveals. “But these days we have a lot more children’s music.”
Simon stresses it’s important to have some quiet time as well.
“It’s really important to teach our children that it’s OK to sit for a while with no noise or stimulation,” he explains.
“I think these days they call it boredom, but that’s when you can be your most creative.”
When asked if Asher will follow in his footsteps, Simon doesn’t rule it out.
“At his age it’s really hard to know what direction he’ll go in,” he says.
“But I’ll encourage him to do anything he wants, whether that’s following in my footsteps, which would be amazing. But if he wants to be a scientist, I’ll encourage that too!”
And while it must be awesome having a Wiggle for a dad, Simon reveals Asher’s allegiance lies elsewhere.
“I never was his favourite Wiggle – that was either Lucia [Field] or Tsehay [Hawkins],” says Simon.
“He’s getting to that age where he’s outgrowing The Wiggles.”
But luckily there’s still one person who likes the red skivvy the best.
“It’s safe to say I’m Lauren’s favourite Wiggle,” Simon laughs.
The Wiggles Sparkle! BIG Show is currently touring around Australia. For tickets visit: thewiggles.com
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