She’s the bright and bubbly redhead who won a legion of fans during her nine-year stint as the Yellow Wiggle, but there’s another surprising side to Emma Watkins – as revealed by her husband of four years in a new interview.
Emma, 36, married former music teacher Oliver Brian, 38, back in May 2022, two years after the duo met while both working with The Wiggles.
Oliver, a songwriter and musician, had been brought on board by Blue Wiggle Anthony Field to assist in writing new music for the children’s entertainment group.
“I was like ‘wow, he’s super clever’,” Emma shared of her thoughts on first meeting Olly in a new interview for the Parenthood podcast. “We were obviously on tour so that made a big difference.”
Emma had been wed once before – to fellow Wiggles star Lachlan Gillespie. The duo split after two years of marriage, later revealing that they felt they were “meant to be best friends”.
Emma later quit the popular entertainment group to forge a new children’s entertainment character, Emma Memma – who promotes visual communication and inclusivity.
Today, Oliver works with Emma on the business as it continues to flourish – and Emma admits the couple are “probably unique” because they “are better together”.
“Even just today, as one example, I’ve been away filming for ABC and it is weird to not be together writing music or working on Emma Memma,” the star told Parenthood. “When I’m doing other projects you’re like ‘wait, what?’”
However, behind the scenes, Oliver revealed there’s a secret to the success of the couple’s relationship.
“For whatever reason we’ve been super lucky, not only musically – we have a very radical honesty…” the musician told the show.
“Our families understand that we are quite abrupt….” Emma chimed in. “And I think that just comes from many years of a) being a teacher but also if it’s not working then it has to change.”
It’s perhaps a surprising insight into the woman who has become beloved by children across the globe, but Emma is proud to speak candidly about topics that matter.
One such topic is parenthood – with Emma having dealt with difficult questions in the past about her family plans.
“It’s such a huge discussion and I think it really just goes to everybody’s dealing with their own sensitivities and potential challenges,” the star told Parenthood, of responding to such questions.
“For us, we’re pretty open, Olly and I we’re like ‘well, we’d love to have a child if we could’. We don’t know what that looks like.”
Emma has previously spoken publicly about her own battle with stage four Endometriosis, but she is also mindful of the struggles of others who may be navigating their own journey towards parenthood.
“It’s just such an abrupt conversation for people that you know that might be going through a miscarriage,” she shared.
“Whereas for us, Olly and I are like ‘yeah, well if it happens it happens’.
“I don’t mind but I think the conversation can be sensitive because of what people are dealing with.”