Tsehay Hawkins (, ; born 15 November 2005) is an Australian dancer and singer, best known as a member of

the Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. As of 2022, the group members are Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce, Tsehay Hawkins, Evie Ferris, John Pearce (entertainer), John Pearce, Caterina Mete ...

. She was the second female to be a member of the group and is the first member of African heritage, as well as the youngest to have ever joined, joining at age sixteen.

Early life

Tsehay Hawkins was born in

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; ,) is the capital city of Ethiopia, as well as the regional state of Oromia. With an estimated population of 2,739,551 inhabitants as of the 2007 census, it is the largest city in the country and the List of cities in Africa b ...

Ethiopia Ethiopia, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country located in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the north, Djibouti to the northeast, Somalia to the east, Ken ...

, 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 Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

in 2012, as Hawkins wished for a younger sibling. After her sibling's adoption, Hawkins took

cumbia Cumbia refers to a number of musical rhythms and folk dance traditions of Latin America, generally involving musical and cultural elements from American Indigenous peoples, Europeans, and Africans during colonial times. Cumbia is said to have com ...

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.

Early 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.

The Wiggles

Hawkins became an auxiliary member of the Wiggles' Fruit Salad TV

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

series in August 2021 alongside

Evie Ferris Evie Ferris (born 18 February 1997) is an Australian ballerina and member of children's band The Wiggles. Early life Ferris was born in Cairns, Australia, and attended St Andrews Catholic College until year 7. She began dance and performing ar ...

(blue), Kelly Hamilton (yellow) and John Pearce (purple).

Anthony Field Anthony Donald Joseph Field (born 8 May 1963) is an Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer. He is best known as the leader of the children's group the Wiggles and a member of the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. While st ...

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. Hawkins took Watkins' role as the yellow Wiggle in 2022. At age 16, 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 Bargo is a town in the Macarthur, New South Wales, Macarthur Region of Sydney, Greater Sydney in New South Wales, Australia, in the Wollondilly Shire. It is located approximately halfway between Campbelltown, New South Wales, Campbelltown and B ...

Awards

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.

Discography

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