Tsehay Hawkins

Tsehay Hawkins (, ; born 15 November 2005) is an Australian dancer and singer. In August 2021, she became an auxiliary member of The Wiggles, wearing a red shirt. Later in the year, she replaced Emma Watkins as the Yellow Wiggle. She is the second female to be a member of the group and the first member of African heritage.

Early life

Tsehay Hawkins was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 15 November 2005. She was adopted and raised by Australian parents, Robyn and Reg Hawkins, when she was 5 months old and raised in Bargo, south-west of Sydney. From two years old, Hawkins started taking ballet, tap and jazz dance lessons and later followed with Ethiopian and West African styles. Her family also adopted a child from Colombia in 2012, as Hawkins wished for a younger sibling. After her sibling's adoption, Hawkins took cumbia dance lessons in Sydney and expanded her repertoire to salsa and urban Latin dance styles. As of October 2021, she was attending secondary school in Campbelltown.

Career

Hawkins won a national dance competition in January 2017. She appeared on Australian variety TV show, ''Little Big Shots'' in 2018 as an African fusion dancer. At the 2019 World Salsa championships she won Youth Salsa Soloist, Youth Mixed Latin Soloist, and Youth/Adult Mixed Latin Couples & Duets (partnered with Oliver Pineda). In early 2021, Hawkins won the World Amateur Ladies Salsa and Urban Latin Championship. She has won four world titles in Latin and commercial dance.

Hawkins became an auxiliary member of the Wiggles' Fruit Salad TV YouTube series in August 2021 alongside Evie Ferris (blue), Kelly Hamilton (yellow) and John Pearce (purple). Anthony Field eventually hired the auxiliary members, thinking "children who are watching the show today come from culturally diverse families, so ewanted the Wiggles to reflect their audience." In October of that year, yellow Wiggle Emma Watkins announced that she was retiring from The Wiggles at the end of the year. While the group were in hiatus from live performances, Hawkins, with the Wiggles members, presented the Best Australian Live Act trophy at the 2021 ARIA Music Awards.

Hawkins took Watkins' role as the yellow Wiggle in 2022. At age 15, Hawkins surpassed Greg Page (age 19) as the youngest person to join the Wiggles.

Personal life

Hawkins resides with her family in Bargo, New South Wales. Because of her age, Hawkins is chaperoned when touring with the Wiggles and was continuing her education via Distance Education online in 2022.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Tsehay
2005 births
Living people
Ethiopian emigrants to Australia
The Wiggles members
Australian children's musicians
Australian female dancers
Australian women singers
Australian adoptees