Mamamia Team Thursday 17 May 2012 6:26pm

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And then there was one.

In a major Wiggle shake-up, it’s been revealed that three of the original Wiggles will leave the group to be replaced by three new members. Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt, red Wiggle Murray Cook and yellow Wiggle Greg Page will retire at the end of 2012 – leaving only blue Wiggle Anthony Page.

He’ll be joined by Emma Watkins, Lachlan Gillespie and Simon Pryce, who are all back-up dancers for the group and have been “handpicked” by the departing Wiggles.

Three original Wiggle members will leave at the end of 2012. They'll be replaced by backup dancers from the group.

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This is from the announcement to the media:

“We’ve been entertaining children around the world for 21 years and it’s important that we plan for the future so that The Wiggles can keep wiggling in the years to come,” said Murray.

“The touring and performing over the past 21 years has meant that we’ve spent a long time away from our own families and friends. We miss them and want to spend more time at home which is a major reason why three of us decided it was time to hand on our skivvies to a new generation.’’

“Singing, dancing and performing for children and their parents around the world has been such great fun-we have been so lucky to do something that we love for so long,” said Greg.

“When The Wiggles asked me to return to the group last year I was excited at the thought of performing with the three guys that I started the group with 21 years ago. With Murray and Jeff’s decision to stop performing at the end of the year it’s a nice sense of closure to also end my time on stage during the final tour with all the original members of the group.”

“It’s been so great having Greg back with us so far this year, and to finish our time on stage all together again seems so fitting,” Jeff said.

“We want to thank all our Wiggly fans– it’s been a great ride in our big red car. We are really looking forward to saying farewell and having one last dance with everyone during the tour.”