Lachy Gillespie has been putting smiles on kids’ faces as the Purple Wiggle for almost a decade now, but some performances still move him.
Each year he and his fellow Wiggles head to children’s hospitals where they perform for sick kids battling illnesses including cancer.
“We try to take some of the sadness and anxiety out of the situation,” Lachy tells Now To Love.
“We go around and sing songs and for those few moments the children smile, and they just forget about what’s going on for them.”
Unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic put those performances on hold but that’s not stopping the Purple Wiggle from doing his part for sick kids.
.jpg?resize=380%2C285)
Lachy Gillespie welcomed his own daughters with fiancée Dana Stephensen in September 2020.
(Instagram)This year he’s the ambassador for Camp Quality’s inaugural Bucket Hat Day on September 30 and says it’s “the least [he] can do for families going through so much”.
With so many Aussies focused on the pandemic, children battling cancer or watching family members fight the disease have been largely forgotten.
The cause hits home for Lachy now more than ever after becoming a dad himself and he sees firsthand the joy The Wiggles bring to kids dealing with cancer, as well as his own kids.
“It’s the reason we do it, it’s the reason [The Wiggles] are still so popular,” he explains.
“I see that now with my own daughters, the joy they get from music and how it instantly changes their mood.”
Lachy and fiancée Dana Stephensen welcomed twin daughters Lottie and Lulu in last year and just celebrated their first birthdays.
Though the pandemic has put a hold much of Lachy’s work with the Wiggles, there has been a silver lining: plenty of extra time at home with his kids.
“I would have missed their birthday [if not for lockdown] which I can’t even imagine now,” he says.
“It just goes so fast – they’re already one, where did that go? [Fatherhood] kind of does just hit you, you can’t really prepared.”
While he’s locked down in Melbourne, the proud dad has been enjoying as much time as possible with his little girls and stepson Jasper, who calls the 35-year-old his “second daddy”.
It’s a title Lachy’s incredibly proud of, adding of Jasper: “I don’t see him any differently to Lulu and Lottie.”
The extra time at home won’t last forever and the resident Purple Wiggle says it will be tricky to say goodbye when he finally returns to live shows.
However since he and ballet dancer Dana met through The Wiggles, the couple knew the challenges that come with the job when they started their family.
“Dana and I have been used to saying ‘see you soon’ for a while, but it will be very different with children,” Lachy admits.
Speaking of Dana, the pair have been engaged for over a year now but Lachy says wedding plans are still a long way off.
Lachy and Dana announced their engagement in April 2020.
(Instagram)“In a really nice way we just haven’t actually had time to think about it,” he admits, adding that Lulu, Lottie and Jasper will all have special roles on the big day.
In the meantime, he’s loving watching Lulu and Lottie connect with The Wiggles in the way so many Aussie kids do.
He’s heard parents say for years how much the group’s music makes their kids light up and now Lachy gets to see it firsthand with his twins.
“They clap to it, they dance from side to side, it’s pretty cute,” he says of Lulu and Lottie.
“Not that they clap in time yet, but they do clap and move to the music, and you can kind of hear them starting to make noises that sound like singing. Lulu is really musical already.”
They’ll have even more to clap along to as The Wiggles welcome four new members, each of them adding to the group’s diversity.
“Only good can come from it, they’re really talented and they’re really lovely people,” Lachy says of the new line-up.
Soon they’ll be joining him back up on the stage and – pandemic willing – in children’s hospitals putting smiles on sick kids’ faces again.
In the meantime, Lachy is urging Aussies to step up and support Camp Quality and Bucket Hat Day to support kids facing cancer themselves or in their families.
“I’m proud to shine a light on children across the country who are impacted by cancer by wearing my bucket hat,” he says and encourages everyone else to do the same.
Lachy is the ambassador for Camp Quality’s inaugural Bucket Hat Day on September 30.
(Supplied)Camp Quality’s services and programs are created specifically to support children aged up to 15 years, who are dealing with their own cancer diagnosis, or the diagnosis of someone they love.
Support the group by joining in this Bucket Hat Day and help give kids facing cancer the chance to be kids again.
ALDI is supporting the cause by introducing three exclusive bucket hats as part of their Special Buys on Saturday the September 25, with all proceeds going to Camp Quality.
