The Wiggles’ New Diverse Cast Has Upset Lyle Shelton & Matt Canavan

News of The Wiggles announcing a new “more inclusive” line up has been welcomed by many people across Australia. But, not Lyle Shelton, who has accused the popular children’s entertainers of “indoctrinating children into LGBTQIA+ gender fluid ideology”.

The Wiggles had announced that it would expand its current line up to eight members as part of its YouTube series Fruit Salad.

Shaping The Wiggles For The Future

The diverse cast was the idea of founding Blue Wiggle, Anthony Field, who wanted to create a show which was more relevant for children who come from culturally diverse families.

Today we’re announcing our new YouTube exclusive, #FruitSaladTV! For the first time ever, #TheWiggles have expanded their line up to eight Wiggles, which is sure to double the fun! 💛💛💙💙❤❤💜💜

Fruit Salad TV premieres on our YouTube on Saturday September 4th! 🙌 pic.twitter.com/PS6kvUYjid

— The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) August 21, 2021

The newest members include John Pearce who found fame with pop group Justice Crew, who has Filipino heritage and is the only new male cast member. The new cast includes Indigenous Australian Evie Ferris, Chinese-Australian Kelly Hamilton and Ethiopian-born Tsehay Hawkinsand.

“As society has evolved, we have embraced the need for diversity and inclusiveness and want children all over the world to see themselves reflected on the screen. It’s so important that The Wiggles continue to evolve along with our society.”

“This is the first step towards shaping The Wiggles for the next 30 years, taking us in a direction that truly represents and serves our community more inclusively,”  Field said in a statement

📣 SNEAK PEEK 📣 The Red Wiggles are here in #FruitSaladTV to teach you the very special Dippy Do Dinosaur Dance, join us for even more fun on September 4th on our YouTube! 💃🕺❤ #TheWiggles pic.twitter.com/hEDtLf7swr

— The Wiggles (@TheWiggles) August 24, 2021

Rainbow Continues To Rile Lyle Shelton

But it wasn’t so much as this more inclusive line up of new performers that had Shelton feeling a little hot under the collar, shortly after the announcement.

The former leader of the “No” campaign in the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey posted on his website and social media that he believes, “The Wiggles, once a safe haven for children, is now indoctrinating them into harmful LGBTIQA+ ideology, confusing them about whether they are boys or girls.”

Shelton targeted what he called the introduction of “a ‘non-binary’ unicorn, Shirley Shawn”.

According to Shelton, the Shawn character had previously featured in a video released last year “holding an umbrella in the colours of the rainbow political movement”.

https://twitter.com/joshgnosis/status/1429674286986395649

Alongside Shirley Shawn, two other non-binary characters are set to join The Wiggles, Police Officer Beaples who is largely non-verbal, and  Bok an emotional, shy hand puppet.

Sadly, Shelton has taken his outrage one step further, also launching a petition which asks its signatories that now that The Wiggles “are pushing LGBTIQA+ gender fluid ideology, would you let your kids watch the woke Wiggles?”  The petition has so far gathered around 2000 signatures.

…. And, Matt Canavan

The new line-up also caught the ire of Coalition Senator Matt Canavan- who has previously called for gay and lesbian Australians to “grow a spine” in the face of homophobia. Canavan told The Australian. “The Wiggles are free to do what they like. It was nice while it lasted. But you go woke, you go broke,” going on to predict the new line up would be the beginning of the end for The Wiggles.

While haters will keep on hating, Fruit Salad TV is set to debut on September 4 on YouTube and will be available worldwide.

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