Emma Watkins reveals how new project Emma Memma is inspiring children

Emma Watkins told The Morning Show host’s Larry Emdur and Kylie Gillies that she never expected her new album to hit No.1 on the charts. 

Since quitting kids supergroup The Wiggles last year, the former Yellow Wiggle, created a new character, Emma Memma, which she unveiled in July.

Her alter ego still features Emma’s trademark curly hair, but she has dyed it red to match her bright orange dress and pink shirt. 

‘I don’t know if we ever expected to hit number one on the chart,’ Emma said.

‘Mostly because our media is about presenting visual communication.’

Emma continued: ‘We put our entire album on YouTube in a visual format on the same day that we released the album on streaming services and music services, so that everyone can see the dance and sign language and through the music.’

The old Wiggles foursome with Simon Pryce (Red Wiggle), Emma, Lachlan Gillespie (Purple Wiggle), and Anthony Field (Blue Wiggle)

Emma revealed that the most satisfying aspect of her new project is seeing children following her lead by learning Auslan, which is the language of the deaf community in Australia. 

‘Parents have been filming their children and sending it to us or showing us that their children are learning sign language through videos,’ Emma explained 

‘It has been great to see that some of the work shopping we have been doing with friends and members of the deaf community here in Australia and overseas encouraging us to put more sign language into our media for children.’

Popular Yellow Wiggle Emma departed the band after 11 years in October last year

Looking back on her 11 years as the Yellow Wiggle, Emma acknowledged that she joined an established brand, whereas her new character Emma Memma has put her on a path of self-discovery using sign language to break down barriers for the deaf community.

‘We are embarking on an entirely new chapter with this particular project,’ Emma said.

‘There is something quite liberating about bringing together passions that I have had, in terms of dance and sign language, for over 15 years.’

Emma continued: ‘And finding with my friends — signing with my friends at primary school, I now bring that to the stage and screen for friends in Australia and overseas.’ 

Tsehay (pronounced se-hi, which means ‘the sun’ in Amharic) is an award-winning dancer who represented Australia at the World Latin Dance Championships 

According to official statistics, 1 in 6 Australians are affected by hearing loss, with approximately 30,000 Deaf Auslan users with total hearing loss.

The World Federation of the Deaf has reported that a staggering 20 per cent of the entire world’s population (1.5 billion people) live with hearing loss and 430 million of those have disabling hearing loss.

Having donated her famous yellow Wiggles skivvy to her replacement Tsehay Hawkins, Emma is promising a new range of Emma Memma merchandise in time for Christmas.

‘It will come, probably arrive at around Christmas time to start with,’ Emma said.

‘Already we have had such a beautiful response from overseas in Canada and America and New Zealand and in Singapore, so we are looking at the different sign languages in different territories.’

Emma ended her interview by showing Larry and Kylie how to sign Emma Memma