Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles

What’s it about?

Hot Potato is about the beloved Australian child entertainers, The Wiggles…but not as you have seen them before. The documentary goes back to the beginning and deep dives into how they came about, their passion for helping young children and insight into their personal lives. There is a whole lot of singing and dancing, as well as conversations about their struggles both personally and professionally.

The facts

• Directed by Sally Aitken and Fraser Grut
• English language
• Runtime: 104 minutes
• Starring iconic members of The Wiggles, Greg Page, Murray Cook, Jeff Fatt and Anthony Field

Why did it get this rating?

This show was self-rated by Amazon. You can find out more about self-rating by streaming providers here.

Baby loss

The groups’ manager, Brian, opens up about losing his ten-month-old daughter to SIDS. This could be upsetting with viewers who have experienced or know someone who has gone through something similar.

Mental Health

There are scenes of the Wiggles talking about their mental health and health experiences - nothing is shown. This may be hard for those who are or are supporting someone on their own mental health journey.

Anthony talks in-depth about his mental health journey. Before getting help he speaks about how he would distance himself from other members, that he would cry a lot and had thoughts about self-harm. He mentions how he didn’t feel liked and didn’t like himself. He has been seeing a mental health professional for over 30 years now and is a strong advocate in the mental health space.

Greg, Jeff, and Murray also speak about difficult periods for them such as, marriages ending, their own health journeys and how they felt when they retired. For example, Greg suffered a massive heart attack side-stage. The other members watched as he became breathless, his eyes rolling back and someone using a defibrillator on him. Later viewers find out that only 10% of people live through what he experienced. This was understandably a huge event that affected Greg and the rest of the team.

Violence

Footage from 9/11 and the 2019-20 Australian bushfires are shown. This could be hard for some viewers who feel connected to these events or who find disaster footage hard to watch.

Helplines

If you or someone you know needs to talk:

• Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor
• Lifeline

Further information

• Why are ratings and content warnings important for me and my whānau?