Robert De Niro, 81, in wild crossover as he takes daughter to meet The Wiggles
Robert De Niro swapped Hollywood sets for something a little more wholesome as he took his two-year-old daughter Gia to meet The Wiggles. The 81-year-old A-lister, who shares the toddler with martial artist girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45, took the little one to hang out with the Australian children's group before their show in New York over the weekend.
The Wiggles shared a sweet clip of Robert shaking hands with all the cast members, who were dressed in their colourful costumes ready for the show. The Taxi Driver actor looked delighted to be there while adorable Gia played with bubbles and looked at her favourite characters in awe.
"It was such a thrill to spend some time with the legendary Robert De Niro and his family before our concert here in New York City," they captioned the post.
A few other children and their parents were seen backstage with the cast as they entertained the little ones. Earlier this year, Robert opened up about life as a new dad.
While appearing on BBC Radio 2 's Breakfast Show in February, the actor spoke to radio host Scott Mills about his daughter Gia.
Robert - known for films like The Godfather Part II (1974) and Taxi Driver (1976) - revealed in the interview that he doesn't watch as many films as he "should". He went on to tease that he watches children's shows with Gia though.
Asked what he watches at home, the actor told host Scott: "I don't watch as many movies as I should. I try to watch films especially that I'm told ... I just wanna keep up, but I watch current events if you will, news, stuff like that.
"Now I watch with my little girl ... the Wiggles and Ms Rachel."
Scott then asked about his knowledge of other kids shows, saying: "Do you know about Bluey?" Robert replied: "No. I'll look up ... I'll look for them."
The presenter said: "Please will someone write this down because this might change your life in terms of attention span. Do you know what I'm saying? Bluey and Hey Duggee."
Robert responded: "Bluey and Hey Duggee, okay." While discussing the Wiggles and Ms Rachel, he added: "I didn't know of them until I started seeing them and my daughter loves to watch them." He later said about the Wiggles: "They're great. Got lots of energy, they're terrific."
In January, Robert told The Times that he's an "early riser" and said about his youngest daughter: "I spend my mornings watching Ms Rachel with her, and I give her her bottle."
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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Dark side of The Wiggles with group dogged by rows, walk-outs and divorce
Celebrities and the world's toddlers adore the long-running Aussie children's TV entertainers, but now in it's third reincarnation, the punishing schedule has taken its toll on the kiddie supergroup Robert De Niro, Dolly Parton and Jessie J are fans, they're worth millions and play sell-out concerts around the world. The Wiggles – aka The Beatles for toddlers – are a preschooler's entertainment juggernaut that has taken over the world. They've got a new country album out, Wiggle Up Giddy Up, featuring two songs with the rhinestone queen herself, Dolly Parton. And tickets to their current world tour are hotter than an Oasis reunion gig. They have previously sold out Madison Square Garden in New York for 12 days in a row and, ahead of this week's show in the US, Hollywood legend De Niro, 81, was granted a backstage pass with his two-year-old daughter, Gia, to meet her idol - founder member, Anthony Field (Blue Wiggle). Like most people over the age of five, De Niro didn't have a clue about this global phenomenon until he had Gia with professional martial artist girlfriend Tiffany Chen, 45. The Wiggles sang their classic banger Rock-A-Bye Your Bear for the veteran actor's family, which drew a rare smile. And De Niro admitted: 'I didn't know of them until I started seeing them and my daughter loves to watch them… but they're great!' With the advent of YouTube and the arrival of their shows on Netflix, a new British audience is embracing The Wiggles. When they came to the UK recently, Jessie J met them with her son Sky and was treated to some of the Tree of Wisdom's viral TikTok dance moves. They're also part of a wave of Australian children's TV, like Bluey, that is captivating British kids, giving them Aussie accents and pushing CBeebies off the map. Borkowski PR's Gregor Cubie expects his 19-month-old to join the fan club soon, and wonders if 'Aussie-ness' is the magic ingredient wooing international audiences. 'In the same way that Bluey is almost universally popular and accessible, The Wiggles' sheer Aussie-ness might work in their favour when it comes to their reputation,' he says. But, scratch the surface, according to Gregor, and you'll find a long-running supergroup, dogged by controversy, ill health and accusations of 'going woke'. One of Australia's most successful exports, The Wiggles take it in turns with pop sensation Kylie Minogue and Hollywood actor Russell Crowe to top the Aussie rich list. Majority owner Anthony is estimated to be worth £25m, on top of the £10 million a year the band rakes in from tours, TV shows, new releases, merchandise and sponsorships. They have their own TV series Ready, Steady, Wiggle, have produced 62 studio albums, sold 40 million books, CDs and DVDS, and attracted more than 5 billion views on YouTube and 3 billion streams across various music services. They've been making ear-worm sing-a-long pop since 1991, when kindergarten teaching students Anthony and Jeff Fatt, who were members of the R&B pop band the Cockroaches, and got together with two fellow students - Murray Cook and Greg Page - in Sydney, to make an album of simple, catchy songs for pre-schoolers After Anthony's infant niece tragically died from sudden infant death syndrome, the Cockroaches disbanded. One of the songs Anthony wrote, Get Ready to Wiggle, inspired the new band's name because they thought 'wiggling' describes how children dance. 'We met at university doing a course in early childhood – this connection with music and teaching is what became The Wiggles,' explains Anthony. While The Wiggles has evolved since those early days, the four original members hold a special place in people's hearts – Anthony and Jeff Fatt (Purple Wiggle), Murray Cook (Red Wiggle) and Greg Page (Yellow Wiggle). And their hits like Hot Potato and Fruit Salad, were toddler dance floor fillers for the next two decades. READ MORE: 'Gran's saucy paintings were slammed – but we're having last laugh' While members have changed, the primary colours of red, yellow, blue and purple that they wear is no doubt the secret of the Wiggles' success with the ankle biters. In Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles 2023 documentary, Anthony says: 'It doesn't matter who wears the skivvies, as long as we reflect our audience and communicate with children.' Like any band, they had to break America to go truly global – and when the Disney Channel played them four times a day to their 85 million subscribers, their success was meteoric. All of a sudden, they were playing 10,000 seater arenas. PR, Gregor puts their success down to a 'combination of their prolific output with its ceaseless ability to hypnotise toddlers'. He adds: 'Also, a less extreme version of the Royal Family 's 'never complain, never explain' approach. Instead of saying nothing, they say the bare minimum and carry on as if nothing happened. 'You rarely see naval-gazing and the consistency and popularity of their work keeps generations of kids coming back for more.' While there aren't many skeletons to rattle in The Wiggle cupboards, behind their happy faces and signature finger point, members have been dogged by setbacks. Controversies include the Hot Potato incident two years ago, when a council in Western Australia played their famous song on loop to deter anti-social behaviour at a homeless shelter. The Wiggles complained, saying their music should only be used to 'spread joy and happiness' but the damage was done. But the fact De Niro was happy to be pictured with The Wiggles is a massive endorsement. 'Robert De Niro seems increasingly like the kind of guy who considers how his every public appearance and utterance might affect his legacy, so it's a pretty major stamp of approval that he's happy to be publicly associated with the Wiggles. Fundamentally they are free of reputation risk,' says Gregor. 'The irony is that the Wiggles have had a few controversies which are fairly stereotypical of long-running bands – walkouts, inter-band marriages and divorces; allegations that a song is racially insensitive, accusations of going 'woke.' They've been ruthlessly parodied on 30 Rock and, of course, the Hot Potato incident was unpleasant.' For members of The Wiggles, the squeaky clean expectations can be tricky. 'During my time in The Wiggles, I was out at a gig one night and I was having a drink, and the next day a newspaper reported: 'The Wiggles member caught having a beer', and that was a shock. I am an adult!' says Murray. And doing 400 to 500 shows a year - cramming up to three gigs into a single day - took its toll on the original members, with Jeff, Murray and Greg retiring for health reasons in 2012. A mystery illness forced Greg to leave in 2006. He was replaced by Sam Morans, but came back in 2012. Then he suffered a heart attack on stage during a 2020 reunion show. That same year, Murray had open heart surgery. Revealing his own struggles, Anthony released a memoir Out Of The Blue last year, detailing the years of mental and physical health problems he's suffered, including depression, undiagnosed ADHD and chronic pain. Yet Field created a second generation of Wiggles with Simon Pryce (Red Wiggle), Lachlan Gillespie (Purple Wiggle) and the first female, Emma Watkins (Yellow Wiggle). 'We might be responsible for their first experience of music,' says Emma, speaking about their responsibility to their tiny fans Sadly, trouble soon upended their paradise, as shortly after Yellow Wiggle Emma married Purple Wiggle Lachie, they divorced and she left the group not long after. Another shake-up in 2021 saw 15-year-old Tsehay Hawkins becoming Yellow Wiggle. Now 62, Anthony is the only remaining original Wiggle, in a group of eight performers - Tsehay, Lachlan, and Simon, as well as Caterina Mete, Lucia Field, Simon Pryce, Evie Ferris, John Pearce - who are as gender-diverse and racially-diverse as their millions of fans. Costumed characters, played by the more junior Wiggles, include Dorothy the Dinosaur, Henry the Octopus, Wags the Dog, and Captain Feathersword. While some of the newer members say their estimated £72,000 earnings are a fraction of the big bucks of the original members, they have given the group a bigger presence on social media, where the Tree of Wisdom (played by Anthony's nephew, Dominic Field) regularly goes viral on TikTok, with his exuberant dance moves. And, in recent years, they've been noticing something new – a generational crossover, as kids grow up, but remain fans. Dorothy the Dinosaur is also now a DJ, who remixes the original Wiggles classics for the older audience. And they've been getting down with the cool kids - covering songs by Fatboy Slim, White Stripes and Tame Impala's Elephant. 'We're bringing back happy memories,' says Anthony. 'And it's a real privilege to do that.' Altogether now, kids, wiggle, wiggle, wiggle! Classic kids TV groups down the years: The Monkees, 1960s – Four cute surfer boys Davy Jones, Mickey Donlenz, Peter Tork and Michael Nesmith running around in zany plots to brilliant pop tracks, in a sitcom that captured the spirit of the era. The Banana Splits, 1970s – Four costumed animal characters who'd perform songs and comedy skits in a psychedelic world, was just as weird and fun as it sounds. The makers had clearly been on the wacky baccy. Rainbow, 1980s – Presenter Geoffrey and his camp puppets Zippy, George and Bungle and hippy singers Rod, Jane and Freddy took us 'Up above the streets and houses, Rainbow climbing high' every week. I still miss them. Teletubbies, 1990s – Some called it the most disturbing children's show on TV – but even now millions of babies are glued to repeats of these four tubby aliens, Tinky-Winky, Dipsy, Laa-laa, and Po, with coat hangers on their heads living on a mini golf course. Zingzillas, 2000s – Puppet monkey band Zak, Tang, Panzee and Drum lived on a tropical island and made real music together and introduced tots to rock, soul, jazz and samba styles – along with some dodgy titles like Do You Didgeridoo?
Metro
2 hours ago
- Metro
Neighbours legend Elaine Smith reveals reason why she turned down soap return
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'I have no recollection of this. People tell me I was,' Elaine chuckles. 'I do remember it being an incredibly cold morning in Melbourne the day that scene was filmed. The tights were on. 'I think I questioned it and someone said: 'The doctor would've cut them off.' Without going into the gory details but apparently, that's what would've happened. But there was no way I was baring my legs in that cold!' She also was keen to shutdown rumours that another actress was brought on board for the character to be killed off in March 1988. Audiences had waved Daphne off as she went to reconnect with her dying father the previous November, when in reality, Elaine had quit the show to travel to her native Scotland. 'I'd had two and a half years in the show and I felt Daphne's stories were becoming the same, over and over again,' she reveals. 'I had made up my mind, my father thought I was a complete fool, and with me saying no they decided to kill the character off. I went back and had a lovely two days lying in bed pretending I was in a coma.' She added: 'I think Paul Keane who played Des would've wanted me to be there [had they used another actress]. 'We had a great friendship and respect for one another. He wouldn't have been able to emote.' A number of roles followed, including a tour of Blood Brothers throughout Australia and New Zealand in 1994. After marrying husband Jonathan three years later, and then giving birth to twin girls in 2000, she decided to prioritise her (understandably) hectic life with the newborns. Little did she realise, that opened the doors to a brand new career path when their teacher asked her to help out with their end-of-year school performance. 'The headmistress asked why I wasn't teaching. I went back to university and did a master's degree and then taught for several years.' Her life then changed considerably in the wake of her mother's ill health in 2017, when she felt she 'wasn't ready to go back into the classroom' following the emotional journey. 'I started doing tutoring on the side, COVID hit, and Zoom was the best thing in the world. 'All of these parents who had no idea what to do with their children at home got in touch and asked if I could help. 'It snowballed from there.' Elaine now passionately works with neurodivergent children, and those who would otherwise be 'lost' in the school system from her home – and she wouldn't change a thing. 'I love what I'm doing.' After casting aside her stardom, she didn't anticipate ever wanting to revisit Daphne after almost forty years. That was, until, events company Screen Star reached out and wondered if she was interested in making personal appearances. 'It sounds awful but Neighbours had a way of intruding into every single part of my life,' she coyly explains. 'It took a long time to shake it. There's a line there, where people think they know Daphne, but they don't know Elaine. 'Screen Star suggested getting involved a couple of years ago, I thought it was lovely. It's also an excuse for me to go back to the UK.' Tickets can be purchased now from the Screen Star website. Later this month, the icon will put in two appearances at Aussie TV conventions that are taking place in Birmingham and London, alongside fellow Neighbours alumni Alan Fletcher, Kym Valentine, Benjie McNair, Melissa Bell and Jacinta Stapleton. 'I'm looking forward to it. We all share the moment in our own lives but will all bring different perspectives to the event.' But would she ever return to the cul-de-sac that made her a household name, for one last hurrah before the show ends in December? After all, nobody really dies in Ramsay Street. More Trending 'It was suggested once. And I said no,' she blurts out. 'Bosses told me: 'You can come back as a twin, you can come back as a ghost, anything.' But Daphne is at rest, and there she shall stay. 'I was never tempted to go back. It was a moment in time, and I enjoyed it. But it seems surreal now when I look back. It was an extraordinary and unusual experience, the way it took off in a way nobody expected with a huge response in the UK.' View More » Meet Elaine Smith and her Neighbours co-stars, and hear their stories in Birmingham and London this July. Tickets can be purchased on the Screen Star website. If you've got a soap or TV story, video or pictures get in touch by emailing us soaps@ – we'd love to hear from you. Join the community by leaving a comment below and stay updated on all things soaps on our homepage. MORE: 80s music icon almost cancelled long-overdue Glastonbury debut over hearing fears MORE: All Neighbours spoilers for next week as love triangle is 'solved' MORE: 54 years of groundbreaking LGBT TV that shaped what we watch today
Wales Online
4 hours ago
- Wales Online
Vernon Kay urges Oasis not to play hit song with reunion tour set to kick off
Vernon Kay urges Oasis not to play hit song with reunion tour set to kick off Oasis are set to perform their first concert in nearly 20 years on Friday, with the band's reunion tour set to kick off in Cardiff and Vernon Kay has made it clear what he wants to hear Vernon Kay said there was one song he'd rather Oasis didn't play (Image: Dave Benett, Max Cisotti/) Vernon Kay has expressed his hopes that Oasis will skip one of their most iconic songs during their upcoming tour, offering a candid opinion on the matter. While presenting his BBC Radio 2 programme and spinning the cherished track 'Songbird', Vernon, 51, shared his thoughts ahead of the eagerly anticipated 41-date tour which kicks off in Cardiff tomorrow (Friday, July 4). The tour marks the band's first global jaunt in nearly two decades, with their last gig taking place in 2009. The Gallagher brothers' reunion is stirring up considerable buzz among fans of all ages, with many eager to relive their favourite tunes live. In discussing his own concert wish list, Vernon didn't hold back, admitting that while he recognises the quality of one particular song, he'd prefer the setlist to be packed with high-energy hits, reports the Manchester Evening News. Vernon Kay He remarked: "We've just had Songbird by Oasis. One track that, I'll be honest with you, I hope they don't play tomorrow night because I just want bangers. Article continues below "I just want high bpm energy. Let's go, I just want everyone jumping up and down. I know it's a classic, I know it's a beauty but c'mon. We will see, it's going to be very very exciting." Despite the excitement, there's an undercurrent of worry among some supporters who fear that the extensive tour schedule doesn't guarantee an equal number of performances, given the brothers' history of discord. Additionally, concerns linger that any potential friction might not stem from within the band, but could arise due to audience interactions. Since their final show, the mobile phone has become dominant and numerous gig-goers now experience performances not through direct observation, but via their device screens. Liam and Noel Gallagher This trend has frustrated Liam, 52, who has previously expressed his feelings on the subject with considerable passion, reports the Metro. The lead singer declared: "This day and age is f***** now. Camera phones. People go to concerts and film. They're not in the moment. It will never be the same. Rock and roll. Forget Oasis. "Forget whether you like the music or not. Going to a concert will never be the same as what it was back then in the 90s. Now, whether it's a small gig or a big gig, they're all like that on their f****** phones. I'm dead proud we got in there before it ended." Liam isn't alone amongst performers in criticising the widespread mobile phone usage at live shows, with Sabrina Carpenter reportedly considering implementing a device prohibition. Article continues below Speaking to Rolling Stone last month, she revealed: "I've grown up in the age of people having iPhones at shows. "It unfortunately feels super normal to me. I can't blame people for wanting to have memories. "But depending on how long I want to be touring, and what age I am, girl, take those phones away. You cannot zoom in on my face."
