A producer of the Brisbane Commonwealth Games has revealed the operator of the kangaroo mascot, who famously winked at the Duke of Edinburgh, was ‘high on marijuana’.
Matilda the kangaroo was a gigantic 13 metre tall mechanical kangaroo who became the face of the 1982 games in Brisbane.
The famous kangaroo paraded around the stadium with her long eye-lashes, but it was her wink at the crowd the stopped the nation.
The operator of the Brisbane Commonwealth Games kangaroo mascot (pictured), who famously winked at the Duke of Edinburgh, was high on marijuana
Matilda the kangaroo (pictured) was a gigantic 13 metre tall mechanical kangaroo who became the face of the 1982 games in Brisbane
!['[The operator] had a small smoke before he went out which I only found out later on. He was very relaxed about the winking business,' producer Ric Birch said](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2017/10/07/00/451C9CC900000578-4957434-_The_operator_had_a_small_smoke_before_he_went_out_which_I_only_-a-22_1507334119822.jpg)
‘[The operator] had a small smoke before he went out which I only found out later on. He was very relaxed about the winking business,’ producer Ric Birch said
Producer Ric Birch revealed the operator, who was sitting in Matilda’s head and was in charge of working the eyes and rotating the neck, was high on marijuana at the time of controlling the mascot.
‘The chap who was in charge of Matilda’s eye movements was chemically enhanced on the day,’ Mr Birch told ABC News.
‘He’d had a small smoke before he went out which I only found out later on. He was very relaxed about the winking business.’
The Duke of Edinburgh opened the Commonwealth Games and later received a cheeky wink and Matilda’s head swung around more than 30 years ago.
Now the cheeky roo has retired to standing out the front of a petrol station south of Gympie, Queensland.
It seems the 1982 Commonwealth Games was rife with celebrations as Olympic swimmer Lisa Curry, who was the flag bearer at the ceremony, revealed she was a little worse for wear.
‘I carried the flag in the closing ceremony with no sleep, completely hungover, and if you look at photos I think my mascara is still, like, falling down my face,’ Ms Curry told the publication.
The revelations come just 179 days before the 2018 Commonwealth Games kick off on the Gold Coast.
Olympic swimmer Lisa Curry (pictured), who was the flag bearer at the ceremony, revealed she was hungover when carrying the national flag in 1982
‘I carried the flag in the closing ceremony with no sleep, completely hungover, and if you look at photos I think my mascara is still, like, falling down my face,’ Ms Curry said