Lachlan Gillespie
{{short description|Australian musician, singer and actor}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lachlan Gillespie
| image = Lachlan Gillespie 2014.jpg
| caption = Gillespie at the 2014 ARIA Music Awards, Sydney, 26 November 2014
| image_size =
| birth_name = Lachlan Gillespie
| alias = Lachy
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1985|10|23}}
| birth_place = Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| origin =
| occupation = {{hlist|Children's entertainer|singer|musician|actor}}
| years_active = 2009–present
| spouse = {{Unbulleted list|{{marriage|Emma Watkins|9 April 2016|2018|reason=div}}|{{marriage|Dana Stephensen|November2022}}}}
| children = 2
| website =
| module = {{Infobox musical artist|embed=yes
| instrument = {{hlist|Vocals|piano|guitar|xylophone}}
| genre = Children's
| associated_acts = The Wiggles
}}}}
Lachlan Gillespie (born 23 October 1985) is an Australian children's entertainer, singer, musician, and actor. He is a member of the Wiggles and wears the purple skivvy.
Early life
Gillespie began playing the piano at the age of four, and started formal singing training when he was 12. He attended the Fame School of Performing Arts as a teenager, earned a Bachelor of Arts in musical theatre at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA), and has performed in musicals in Melbourne and New York. He has been a vocal and drama coach for children between the ages of four and 13.{{cite web|url=http://www.wiggletime.com/thewiggles/announcement-meet-the-next-generation.htm|title=Meet the next generation Wiggles|publisher=Wiggletime.com|access-date=21 March 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140125013349/http://www.wiggletime.com/thewiggles/announcement-meet-the-next-generation.htm|archive-date=25 January 2014 }}{{cite web|last=Shearer|first=Geoff|date=19 May 2012|title=Brisbane-bred Lachlan Gillespie the 'Maroon' Wiggle|url=http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/music/lachlans-our-own-maroon-wiggle/story-e6freqgx-1226360725766|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120723135934/http://www.couriermail.com.au/entertainment/music/lachlans-our-own-maroon-wiggle/story-e6freqgx-1226360725766|archive-date=23 July 2012|access-date=23 May 2012|work=The Courier Mail}}
The Wiggles
Gillespie joined the Wiggles in 2009, touring with the "Dorothy the Dinosaur Traveling Show", as Captain Feathersword, and then as a Wiggly Dancer and Wags the Dog during the group's regular tour. In May 2012, it was announced that Gillespie would replace founding member Jeff Fatt as the Purple Wiggle at the beginning of the following year. Gillespie hosts the short-form television show Lachy! which aired on ABC in 2016. It contains episode shorts of him as Lachy Wiggle.{{cite web|last=Multiplatform|first=Children's TV Online|title=Lachy! – ABC KIDS|url=http://www.abc.net.au/abcforkids/shows/s4524319.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160915055223/http://www.abc.net.au/abcforkids/shows/s4524319.htm|archive-date=15 September 2016|access-date=3 November 2016|work=abc.net.au}}{{cite web|url=http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/lachy/ZW0688A001S00|title=Lachy! – Series 1 Ep 1 Train Time : ABC iview|work=abc.net.au|access-date=3 November 2016}}
In 2018, Gillespie, along with fellow Wiggles member Anthony Field, Emma Watkins and band members Oliver Brian and David O'Reilly, started a band for adult fans called the Unusual Commoners, which played a mixture of traditional Australian, Irish, Scottish and folk songs. They performed their first international show in St. John's, Newfoundland in late 2018.{{cite news|last1=Miller|first1=Stephen|title=A different kind of Wiggles: Children's group members play adults-only St. John's show|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/wiggles-adults-only-1.4838716|access-date=25 June 2019|work=CBC News|date=26 September 2018}}
Personal life
In May 2015, Gillespie and fellow Wiggles performer Emma Watkins announced their engagement.{{cite web|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/entertainment/sydney-confidential/were-engaged-purple-wiggle-lachy-gillespie-pops-the-question-to-yellow-wiggle-emma-watkins/story-fni0cvc9-1227335961495|title=We're engaged! Purple Wiggle Lachy Gillespie pops the question to yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins|publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=4 May 2015|access-date=5 May 2015}} They married on 9 April 2016 at Hopewood House in Bowral, New South Wales.{{cite news|last1=Domjen|first1=Briana|title=Purple Wiggle Lachlan Gillespie and Yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins tie the knot in royal-inspired wedding|url=http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/purple-wiggle-lachlan-gillespie-and-yellow-wiggle-emma-watkins-tie-the-knot-in-royalinspired-wedding/news-story/030173f0e441f3de5fabed913f8ceb63|access-date=12 April 2016|work=The Daily Telegraph|date=9 April 2016}} On 3 August 2018, Gillespie and Watkins announced their separation.{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/music/the-wiggles-emma-and-lachy-split-after-two-years-of-marriage-20180803-p4zvek.html|title=The Wiggles' Emma and Lachy split after two years of marriage|author=Genevieve Rota|date=3 August 2018|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=3 August 2018}} On 9 April 2020, ballet dancer Dana Stephensen proposed to Gillespie after meeting on the set of the Wiggles in December 2018. They wed in late November 2022.{{cite news|last1=Ryan|first1=Aine|title=Purple Wiggle Lachy Gillespie engaged to ballet dancer girlfriend: 'Dana asked me to marry her'|url=https://celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/wiggles-lachlan-gillespie-engaged-dana-stephensen/2b43abef-7d10-49c5-a1af-c0ec6ca7cad4|work=celebrity.nine.com.au|date=April 2020|language=en-AU}}
On 11 September 2020, Gillespie announced the birth of their twin daughters, Lottie and Lulu.{{cite web|title=Purple Wiggle Lachy Gillespie and Dana Stephenson have twin baby girls|url=https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/celebrity-kids/purple-wiggle-lachy-gillespie-and-dana-stephenson-have-twin-baby-girls/news-story/be54fa2fa89e6420a5fb43d9e85638d0|website=News.com.au|access-date=11 September 2020|date=11 September 2020}}
Discography
{{Main articles|The Wiggles discography}}
References
External links
- {{IMDb name|5688190}}
{{The Wiggles}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gillespie, Lachlan}}
Category:Entertainers from Brisbane
Category:Australian children's musicians
Category:Australian male actors
Category:Australian male singers