1
00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:10,760
Speaker 1: Episode one, the making of High Five Together. In nineteen

2
00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:14,120
Speaker 1: ninety nine, High Five burst onto the kids music scene

3
00:00:15,960 --> 00:00:24,920
Speaker 1: Suck Suck. They were universally loved by kids and parents

4
00:00:24,920 --> 00:00:27,480
Speaker 1: for their catchy pop music and wholesome vibes.

5
00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:32,280
Speaker 2: Our director kept saying, more energy, more energy, give us more.

6
00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,040
Speaker 1: That's really funny because Nathan and I took that really

7
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,640
Speaker 1: personally and we just kept going up and up and up.

8
00:00:37,880 --> 00:00:39,920
Speaker 1: I was ready to explode. If you watched that first

9
00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,120
Speaker 1: series I had, I was like, hi, everyone like I

10
00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:44,239
Speaker 1: was that excited. At the end of the series, we

11
00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:46,599
Speaker 1: were at a rat party and he said, I was

12
00:00:46,600 --> 00:00:48,440
Speaker 1: never talking to you too. By the way, they even

13
00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:52,200
Speaker 1: began rivaling Australian kids supergroup The Wiggles. There was one

14
00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:55,640
Speaker 1: small difference though, which became a big problem for the cast.

15
00:00:55,960 --> 00:00:56,840
Speaker 1: The business model.

16
00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,240
Speaker 2: It was busy. I mean, it was exhausting. At the

17
00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,040
Speaker 2: same time we were teenagers. We were loving the ride,

18
00:01:02,040 --> 00:01:03,480
Speaker 2: but it was long hours.

19
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:06,480
Speaker 1: In this series we explore what was really happening behind

20
00:01:06,520 --> 00:01:10,960
Speaker 1: the bubblegum illusion of Australia's most popular kids entertainers, and

21
00:01:11,000 --> 00:01:13,679
Speaker 1: what happened when they were no longer paid to maintain

22
00:01:13,760 --> 00:01:14,640
Speaker 1: the facade.

23
00:01:14,760 --> 00:01:16,880
Speaker 2: You have your arguments, you have your ups and your downs.

24
00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:19,880
Speaker 2: It's like if you're working with someone constantly every single

25
00:01:19,959 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 2: day for ten years. Of course there's going to be

26
00:01:22,880 --> 00:01:25,800
Speaker 2: times where you getting each other's way or across the line.

27
00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,200
Speaker 2: But all in all, we were a great family and

28
00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:29,360
Speaker 2: we worked really well together.

29
00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:32,880
Speaker 1: We are journalists, Kate and Sophie Torbert, and this is outspoken.

30
00:01:32,880 --> 00:01:37,320
Speaker 1: Plus I think we need to point out that we

31
00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:40,399
Speaker 1: were ten years old when High five first burst onto

32
00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:44,920
Speaker 1: the scene, and probably not their preschool demographic, but it's

33
00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:47,880
Speaker 1: safe to say we still loved the band. They definitely

34
00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:50,040
Speaker 1: did make a huge impression on me at the time,

35
00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:52,080
Speaker 1: and I think that that is the key to High

36
00:01:52,080 --> 00:01:54,760
Speaker 1: Fi's popularity, the fact that they didn't just appeal to

37
00:01:54,800 --> 00:01:58,320
Speaker 1: their target demographic. It was also older people and parents

38
00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:01,760
Speaker 1: who loved the music were fascinated by High Five. I

39
00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,080
Speaker 1: need to know what was your favorite High Five song,

40
00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:06,880
Speaker 1: because since doing the research, I have been listening to

41
00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:08,560
Speaker 1: a lot of them and they are getting stuck in

42
00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:11,560
Speaker 1: my head or this is a little bit embarrassing to admit,

43
00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:14,280
Speaker 1: but at our school we had red faces where for

44
00:02:14,360 --> 00:02:16,680
Speaker 1: those who aren't old enough to remember on hey, hey,

45
00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:18,919
Speaker 1: it's Saturday, there was a segment called Red Faces where

46
00:02:18,919 --> 00:02:21,040
Speaker 1: people would do skits and they'd get scored. So we

47
00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,040
Speaker 1: had that at our school and we did a number

48
00:02:24,040 --> 00:02:26,400
Speaker 1: of High Five performances. I think we did it to

49
00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,280
Speaker 1: the song North, South East and Western. Also Animals, so

50
00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,440
Speaker 1: they are my favorite. Let's throw on an upsot to

51
00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:50,000
Speaker 1: remind listeners of these songs, so second Animals. I wonder

52
00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,160
Speaker 1: if these are available on Spotify because I think I

53
00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:54,480
Speaker 1: need to make my own High five playlist now. And

54
00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,000
Speaker 1: High five will also iconic At Carols by Candlelight, they

55
00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:00,639
Speaker 1: made Carols by Candlelight and it's it's never been the

56
00:03:00,680 --> 00:03:04,400
Speaker 1: same since the original cast weren't on there on Christmas Eve. Yeah.

57
00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,160
Speaker 1: The fashion takes me back so much as well, because

58
00:03:07,160 --> 00:03:09,240
Speaker 1: there's so much layering going on. There's also a lot

59
00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:12,119
Speaker 1: of pedal pushes and skirts over the top of pedal pushes.

60
00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:15,560
Speaker 1: The hairstyles were also amazing. I remember Kelly always used

61
00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,919
Speaker 1: to have these really cool twisty updos, lots of butterfly clips, yeah,

62
00:03:18,919 --> 00:03:21,560
Speaker 1: butterfly clips, maybe a few slutstrands as well. And Tim

63
00:03:21,840 --> 00:03:24,440
Speaker 1: his hair was always so spiky, so much hair gel

64
00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:26,840
Speaker 1: going on there. Now, let's get into how it all

65
00:03:26,880 --> 00:03:30,320
Speaker 1: began because the concept of High five was developed when

66
00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:34,240
Speaker 1: Helen Harris and Posey Graham Evans joined forces and created

67
00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:37,040
Speaker 1: a production company called Kids Like Us. And it's pretty

68
00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:40,160
Speaker 1: interesting because Harris had already had great success in early

69
00:03:40,280 --> 00:03:44,279
Speaker 1: childhood entertainment because she was the creator of Bananas in Pajamas,

70
00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,120
Speaker 1: Oh Yeah, and Graham Evans actually went on to be

71
00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:51,280
Speaker 1: the mastermind behind McLeod's Daughters, so very successful women. And

72
00:03:51,320 --> 00:03:54,160
Speaker 1: the idea was to try and capture kids attention by

73
00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:58,640
Speaker 1: blending educational theories with musical appeal. So Harris and Graham

74
00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,960
Speaker 1: Evans worked on the concept with childhood educators and pitched

75
00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:04,560
Speaker 1: the idea of High five to Channel nine, who snapped

76
00:04:04,560 --> 00:04:06,760
Speaker 1: it up straight away. And it really helped at the

77
00:04:06,800 --> 00:04:08,840
Speaker 1: time because the head of drama at nine had a

78
00:04:08,880 --> 00:04:12,320
Speaker 1: young child. Now. The auditions to find the group were

79
00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:15,480
Speaker 1: held at the ABC studios in nineteen ninety eight, and

80
00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:18,440
Speaker 1: in an interview with Nathan Foley, he explained that he

81
00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:21,080
Speaker 1: was just eighteen at the time and he got a

82
00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,839
Speaker 1: call telling him that there were auditions being held for

83
00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:27,520
Speaker 1: new kids shows and they were looking for five presenters, singers,

84
00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,839
Speaker 1: dancers and actors. Now Nathan was one of three hundred

85
00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:33,680
Speaker 1: people that turned up to the first audition, and the

86
00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:37,640
Speaker 1: group was narrowed down until twenty five people remained. It's

87
00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:39,560
Speaker 1: quite interesting because it sort of reminds me of pop

88
00:04:39,600 --> 00:04:41,799
Speaker 1: stars back in the day and all of those talent shows,

89
00:04:41,800 --> 00:04:44,919
Speaker 1: because the group was then split into five groups of five,

90
00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:48,560
Speaker 1: and one of those groups contained Tim Harding, Kelly Crawford,

91
00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,039
Speaker 1: Nathan Foley, Charlie Robinson, and Kathleen Dileong Jones, who went

92
00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:56,000
Speaker 1: on to be the original members of High five Now.

93
00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,279
Speaker 1: Nathan said that their voices jelled so well together that

94
00:04:59,320 --> 00:05:02,480
Speaker 1: there was this real big aha moment and producers are like,

95
00:05:02,680 --> 00:05:05,320
Speaker 1: that is our group now. They started to record the

96
00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,159
Speaker 1: pilot at the ABC, and then when Channel nine took

97
00:05:08,200 --> 00:05:11,920
Speaker 1: on the show, everything started to move really quickly. I

98
00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,880
Speaker 1: think what really set High five apart was the music,

99
00:05:14,960 --> 00:05:17,799
Speaker 1: because it was able to stand alone from the show.

100
00:05:17,880 --> 00:05:21,080
Speaker 1: Even as a consumer of that show, my favorite bit

101
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:22,960
Speaker 1: was the start and the end of the episode because

102
00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,320
Speaker 1: that's when they'd have the little concerts. Yeah, and it's

103
00:05:25,360 --> 00:05:28,360
Speaker 1: interesting because the creators of High five took inspiration from

104
00:05:28,360 --> 00:05:31,800
Speaker 1: the Spy Scales dance moves and they believed that preschoolers

105
00:05:31,800 --> 00:05:33,960
Speaker 1: could copy them, and they really did. We saw it

106
00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:36,800
Speaker 1: with songs like North, South, East and West. I mean

107
00:05:36,800 --> 00:05:38,799
Speaker 1: the kids sometimes got a little bit confused which direction

108
00:05:38,920 --> 00:05:41,279
Speaker 1: to go in. I think it seemed a lot cooler

109
00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:45,279
Speaker 1: than The Wiggles as well, because the performers were wearing

110
00:05:45,320 --> 00:05:48,279
Speaker 1: clothes that were very of the time, and they role

111
00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:50,839
Speaker 1: models for the kids. Well. The group style was modeled

112
00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:53,120
Speaker 1: on the fast paced nature of pop music, and in

113
00:05:53,120 --> 00:05:56,240
Speaker 1: a recent interview, Nathan Foley reflected on the success of

114
00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,640
Speaker 1: High Five and he put it down to the show's

115
00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,640
Speaker 1: ability to relate to botho kids and parents, and he

116
00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:03,640
Speaker 1: said parents could actually sit down and have a bit

117
00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:06,360
Speaker 1: of a laugh as well. Again, he said the music

118
00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:08,880
Speaker 1: was a very big part of it because, as you said,

119
00:06:08,920 --> 00:06:12,039
Speaker 1: it was pop orientated and while lyrically it was for

120
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:15,760
Speaker 1: the kids, musically it was produced just like pop music,

121
00:06:15,800 --> 00:06:17,359
Speaker 1: so if you did get rid of the lyrics, you

122
00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:20,480
Speaker 1: could easily play it on radio. It's pretty crazy because

123
00:06:20,520 --> 00:06:23,640
Speaker 1: in the same year that the show launched, Sony Music

124
00:06:23,680 --> 00:06:27,239
Speaker 1: released High Five's debut album, which was called Jump and Jive,

125
00:06:27,520 --> 00:06:30,599
Speaker 1: and it reached number thirty three on the ARIA album charts.

126
00:06:30,760 --> 00:06:32,840
Speaker 1: What Play is My Mind looking back at this time

127
00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:35,160
Speaker 1: is just how young the members of the group were

128
00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,240
Speaker 1: when it first launched. So Charlie Robinson was the youngest

129
00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:41,280
Speaker 1: she was only eighteen, while Kelly was the oldest at

130
00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:44,920
Speaker 1: twenty five. And the idea was that High five weren't

131
00:06:44,960 --> 00:06:47,159
Speaker 1: meant to be childhood educators, but they were meant to

132
00:06:47,160 --> 00:06:49,719
Speaker 1: be more like older siblings or friends to the kids,

133
00:06:49,760 --> 00:06:52,200
Speaker 1: and I think this really worked well. At the time,

134
00:06:52,480 --> 00:06:55,560
Speaker 1: no one really knew how rapidly this show was going

135
00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:57,560
Speaker 1: to take off, and it really didn't take long for

136
00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:00,200
Speaker 1: High Five to become one of Australia's most success for

137
00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,240
Speaker 1: musical groups. The show was actually broadcast daily into eighty

138
00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:07,920
Speaker 1: one countries. They also topped the music charts, with four

139
00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:10,880
Speaker 1: of their albums reaching the top ten and receiving five

140
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,760
Speaker 1: consecutive ARIA Music Awards for Best Children's Album and the

141
00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:19,000
Speaker 1: original group also received three Logis for Most Outstanding Children's Program.

142
00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:22,040
Speaker 1: And as you mentioned, they had this international fan base,

143
00:07:22,080 --> 00:07:24,960
Speaker 1: which meant they were regularly touring across Australia, Britain, New

144
00:07:25,080 --> 00:07:28,560
Speaker 1: Zealand and Singapore and merchandise was another huge part of

145
00:07:28,600 --> 00:07:31,040
Speaker 1: their success, so High Five actually had a range at

146
00:07:31,120 --> 00:07:34,160
Speaker 1: Kama which was not just clothing and accessories, but also

147
00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:40,160
Speaker 1: included dinnerware, games, craft products, backpacks, luggage, Christmas and Easter confectionery,

148
00:07:40,280 --> 00:07:44,240
Speaker 1: and even a jumping castle and carousel. Now success didn't

149
00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:47,320
Speaker 1: come easy though. The young group members worked really hard.

150
00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:50,480
Speaker 1: So they had forty five episodes to record each series,

151
00:07:50,760 --> 00:07:53,640
Speaker 1: and they spent three months each year recording the show.

152
00:07:54,040 --> 00:07:56,280
Speaker 1: So on a Sunday they would get their scripts and

153
00:07:56,280 --> 00:07:59,000
Speaker 1: then they'd spend three days rehearsing what they were going

154
00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,840
Speaker 1: to film, and then two days filming it. Now, the

155
00:08:01,840 --> 00:08:04,640
Speaker 1: filming days started very early in the morning and didn't

156
00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:07,480
Speaker 1: end until seven or eight at night, and in terms

157
00:08:07,520 --> 00:08:11,040
Speaker 1: of rehearsals, this involved learning scripts off by heart for

158
00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:13,520
Speaker 1: their segments, as well as new songs because they didn't

159
00:08:13,520 --> 00:08:16,920
Speaker 1: have an AUTOQ. And when they weren't filming, they toured

160
00:08:17,000 --> 00:08:19,280
Speaker 1: for seven months of the year, doing three one and

161
00:08:19,280 --> 00:08:22,160
Speaker 1: a half hour shows a day, six days a week

162
00:08:22,200 --> 00:08:25,480
Speaker 1: around Australia, Asia, New Zealand and the whole of the UK.

163
00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:28,680
Speaker 1: And after all of that they were allowed one month

164
00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,040
Speaker 1: off a year. I didn't realize that they were working

165
00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:34,520
Speaker 1: the cast members this hard. Now, despite the very grueling schedules,

166
00:08:34,679 --> 00:08:36,960
Speaker 1: there still wasn't enough time for them to tap into

167
00:08:36,960 --> 00:08:40,720
Speaker 1: the American market, so another High Five was actually created,

168
00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,880
Speaker 1: and in a recent interview, Nathan Foley spoke about how

169
00:08:43,920 --> 00:08:47,280
Speaker 1: he nearly ended up in hospital from the exhausting schedule.

170
00:08:47,440 --> 00:08:48,520
Speaker 1: Let's throw to what he said.

171
00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:50,920
Speaker 2: It was busy. I mean it was exhausting. At the

172
00:08:50,920 --> 00:08:54,360
Speaker 2: same time, I think there's not a lot of groups

173
00:08:54,640 --> 00:08:58,120
Speaker 2: in the world that actually do the TV thing but

174
00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,800
Speaker 2: also do the recording also, so go and visit the

175
00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,520
Speaker 2: children's hospitals and also have no time. You know, we

176
00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,640
Speaker 2: were teenagers were loving the ride, but it was long hours.

177
00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:13,160
Speaker 1: Now, while people often compared High Five and The Wiggles,

178
00:09:13,280 --> 00:09:17,000
Speaker 1: there was a major difference between these two kids entertainment groups,

179
00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,880
Speaker 1: which was the business model. So the original members of

180
00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:23,520
Speaker 1: The Wiggles actually created their own concept and therefore they

181
00:09:23,600 --> 00:09:27,880
Speaker 1: owned the franchise and merchandising rights, whereas with High Five,

182
00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:31,319
Speaker 1: their members were paid a salary by the production company

183
00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:34,400
Speaker 1: which created them. So in terms of money, the Wiggles

184
00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:37,640
Speaker 1: definitely reigned supreme. In two thousand and eight, they topped

185
00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,520
Speaker 1: business magazines Business Reviews Weekly annual list of top earning

186
00:09:41,640 --> 00:09:45,640
Speaker 1: entertainers with forty five million dollars. High five ended up

187
00:09:45,679 --> 00:09:49,160
Speaker 1: coming in fifth place that year with eighteen million. However,

188
00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:51,000
Speaker 1: as I said, the members of High five did not

189
00:09:51,080 --> 00:09:54,400
Speaker 1: hold equity. I would really love to know what their

190
00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:56,560
Speaker 1: salaries were at the time and to have seen the

191
00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:58,000
Speaker 1: growth during the success.

192
00:09:58,280 --> 00:09:58,480
Speaker 2: Yeah.

193
00:09:58,520 --> 00:10:00,920
Speaker 1: Well, it seems like the production company did look after

194
00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:04,360
Speaker 1: the original faces of High five. But the thing is,

195
00:10:04,400 --> 00:10:06,760
Speaker 1: as soon as you left the group, you didn't get

196
00:10:06,800 --> 00:10:09,720
Speaker 1: paid anymore, so you're not living off the royalties like

197
00:10:09,760 --> 00:10:12,880
Speaker 1: the Wiggles. I mean in saying that the Wiggles did

198
00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 1: write their own songs, it sounds like High five weren't

199
00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:18,800
Speaker 1: involved in that actual creative process. So I understand perhaps

200
00:10:18,880 --> 00:10:22,280
Speaker 1: not making royalties off the songs themselves, but they were

201
00:10:22,320 --> 00:10:25,240
Speaker 1: the faces of the brand. Well, their personal ip was

202
00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:27,320
Speaker 1: the brand. When you look at some of the merchandise

203
00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:30,320
Speaker 1: back then, it was literally cartoons based on them, like

204
00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:32,640
Speaker 1: they were the faces of this brand. I did see

205
00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:35,640
Speaker 1: recently that Sophia Bush was complaining about when she was

206
00:10:35,679 --> 00:10:39,600
Speaker 1: working on One Tree Hill that they often got used

207
00:10:39,600 --> 00:10:42,679
Speaker 1: to do ads and never got paid anything because they said, oh, well,

208
00:10:42,760 --> 00:10:45,920
Speaker 1: that's just to promote the show. That's the difficulty. When

209
00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:48,320
Speaker 1: there's a bunch of young people who were really eager

210
00:10:48,360 --> 00:10:50,719
Speaker 1: for their big break. They'll sign anything just to get

211
00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,760
Speaker 1: their foot in the door, and unfortunately those contracts have

212
00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:57,080
Speaker 1: long standing consequences. Yeah, and I think because everyone knew

213
00:10:57,080 --> 00:10:59,240
Speaker 1: how much the Wiggles were making and then saw High

214
00:10:59,320 --> 00:11:01,640
Speaker 1: Five were making a lot, you just assume that the

215
00:11:01,679 --> 00:11:03,960
Speaker 1: talent on the show is also rolling in it. And

216
00:11:04,040 --> 00:11:07,000
Speaker 1: Nathan recalled in an interview how he received a lot

217
00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:09,800
Speaker 1: of backlash when he appeared on I Will Survive after

218
00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:12,400
Speaker 1: leaving High Five, and people were saying he was too

219
00:11:12,440 --> 00:11:14,199
Speaker 1: loaded to go on the show and he didn't need

220
00:11:14,240 --> 00:11:17,280
Speaker 1: the money, and he said, well, unfortunately, that's actually not

221
00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:19,040
Speaker 1: the case. Did you ever feel like there was a

222
00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:21,800
Speaker 1: bit of competition between High Five and the Wiggles? Well,

223
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:24,040
Speaker 1: as a kid, I love the Wiggles, but I feel

224
00:11:24,040 --> 00:11:26,199
Speaker 1: like I progressed to High Five, even though I was

225
00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:29,200
Speaker 1: probably too old to like High Five. And you would assume,

226
00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:32,240
Speaker 1: because there were only three big kids bands at the time,

227
00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,120
Speaker 1: that there would be some sort of competition, because really

228
00:11:35,200 --> 00:11:37,600
Speaker 1: it was High Five, the Wiggles, and to a lesser

229
00:11:37,640 --> 00:11:40,240
Speaker 1: extent than Holy Dook God, I've totally forgot about the

230
00:11:40,240 --> 00:11:43,120
Speaker 1: Hooly Doolies. But Nathan Foley has confirmed that there was

231
00:11:43,160 --> 00:11:46,440
Speaker 1: literally no competition between the bands. They said that they

232
00:11:46,559 --> 00:11:49,440
Speaker 1: used to do photo shoots together and they have actually

233
00:11:49,440 --> 00:11:53,000
Speaker 1: remained friends. Nathan even performed at the Wiggles reunion tour

234
00:11:53,040 --> 00:11:55,440
Speaker 1: back in twenty twenty for the Bushfire Appeal. Isn't that

235
00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,760
Speaker 1: so wholesome? I love the fact that there wasn't anything

236
00:11:57,880 --> 00:12:00,800
Speaker 1: unsavory going on behind the scenes. Two thousand and six,

237
00:12:00,840 --> 00:12:03,440
Speaker 1: sadly was the beginning of the end for the original

238
00:12:03,480 --> 00:12:06,880
Speaker 1: group when Kathleen announced she was pregnant and son Park

239
00:12:06,960 --> 00:12:09,600
Speaker 1: was brought in as her temporary replacement while she was

240
00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:13,080
Speaker 1: on maternity leave. And while Kathleen was intent on returning

241
00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:15,880
Speaker 1: to High five in two thousand and seven, she decided

242
00:12:15,920 --> 00:12:18,840
Speaker 1: to make her decision a permanent one to focus on motherhood.

243
00:12:19,160 --> 00:12:21,679
Speaker 1: So while Kathleen was the first member to leave, by

244
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:24,160
Speaker 1: the end of two thousand and eight, all the original

245
00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:26,760
Speaker 1: cast members had been replaced. So this is in a

246
00:12:26,800 --> 00:12:30,320
Speaker 1: span of two years. I totally forgot this. But Tim

247
00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:33,040
Speaker 1: was the next original member to leave the group, and

248
00:12:33,120 --> 00:12:35,839
Speaker 1: he left because he got injured in a serious motorcycle

249
00:12:35,920 --> 00:12:38,880
Speaker 1: accident in June two thousand and seven. So the poor

250
00:12:38,920 --> 00:12:41,080
Speaker 1: thing ended up fracturing his spine and he was in

251
00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:44,200
Speaker 1: a wheelchair for six weeks, and his injuries left him

252
00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:47,160
Speaker 1: unable to keep up with the pace of High Five's performances,

253
00:12:47,440 --> 00:12:51,400
Speaker 1: and he was replaced by his understudy, Stevie Nicholson. He

254
00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,040
Speaker 1: officially ended up leaving the group in November two thousand

255
00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,400
Speaker 1: and seven after recovering from his injuries. Things were starting

256
00:12:57,400 --> 00:13:00,520
Speaker 1: to crumble because just three months later, Charlie decided to

257
00:13:00,640 --> 00:13:03,560
Speaker 1: leave the group because she wanted to pursue acting, and

258
00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:07,360
Speaker 1: Casey Burgess was brought in as Charlie's replacement. Big changes

259
00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:10,040
Speaker 1: were also happening on the business side of things, so

260
00:13:10,120 --> 00:13:13,640
Speaker 1: the Nine network and production company Southern Star purchased the

261
00:13:13,720 --> 00:13:16,720
Speaker 1: High five brand in March two thousand and eight, and

262
00:13:16,800 --> 00:13:20,040
Speaker 1: this meant the original creators Harris and Graham Evans were

263
00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:23,720
Speaker 1: no longer involved in the franchise, and just seven months

264
00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:26,480
Speaker 1: after this, Kelly announced she would be leaving the group

265
00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:29,079
Speaker 1: at the end of the year to explore other options.

266
00:13:29,600 --> 00:13:31,760
Speaker 1: A month later, Nathan said he would be leaving to

267
00:13:31,800 --> 00:13:36,079
Speaker 1: focus on his adult music career. Then in December, Kathleen's replacement,

268
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:38,520
Speaker 1: Sun Park, revealed she too would be leaving as she

269
00:13:38,559 --> 00:13:42,080
Speaker 1: had only really signed on to be a temporary replacement. Now,

270
00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,120
Speaker 1: based on all of these exits, rumors started swelling that

271
00:13:45,200 --> 00:13:48,240
Speaker 1: Southern Star, who was the new production company, had dumped

272
00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:51,120
Speaker 1: Kelly and Nathan because they wanted to recruit younger and

273
00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:54,840
Speaker 1: cheaper replacements, and it was reported that Nathan and Kelly's

274
00:13:54,840 --> 00:13:57,400
Speaker 1: farewell at Karras by Candlelight was going to be a

275
00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,720
Speaker 1: strained affair, with sources close to the Grip claiming the

276
00:14:00,760 --> 00:14:03,960
Speaker 1: pair had been jilted by the production company. To make

277
00:14:04,000 --> 00:14:08,800
Speaker 1: matters worse, allegedly, Kelly and Nathan had been dropped without consultation,

278
00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,600
Speaker 1: and according to a source, Nathan was allegedly the last

279
00:14:12,840 --> 00:14:16,320
Speaker 1: year that his High Five days were numbered. So apparently

280
00:14:16,360 --> 00:14:19,000
Speaker 1: what happened is he stopped for petrol on the Northeast

281
00:14:19,000 --> 00:14:22,400
Speaker 1: coast and a guy at the petrol station said to him, Hey,

282
00:14:22,640 --> 00:14:25,640
Speaker 1: my brother just got your job yesterday. Now this was

283
00:14:25,680 --> 00:14:28,880
Speaker 1: the first time he'd heard he was being replaced. That

284
00:14:29,120 --> 00:14:32,320
Speaker 1: is so crushing. What are the odds of him stopping

285
00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,920
Speaker 1: at the specific petrol station that his replacements brother is

286
00:14:35,960 --> 00:14:38,040
Speaker 1: working on like the High five production team must have

287
00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,600
Speaker 1: been for Fox says now, there were media reports circulating

288
00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:43,760
Speaker 1: about this, and the source was spilling all of this

289
00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:46,200
Speaker 1: news to a journalist. I mean, let's be honest, I'd

290
00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:48,640
Speaker 1: assume that the source was Nathan. Well, look, they tried

291
00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,680
Speaker 1: to cover Nathan's tracks because they did say he refused

292
00:14:51,720 --> 00:14:54,040
Speaker 1: to comment on the matter, and quoted him saying, look,

293
00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:55,680
Speaker 1: I really don't want to talk about it. I've got

294
00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:58,040
Speaker 1: a contract until Christmas and I intend to honor it.

295
00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,400
Speaker 1: When the main person in the story he says I

296
00:15:00,400 --> 00:15:02,120
Speaker 1: don't want to talk about it, that means they've already

297
00:15:02,160 --> 00:15:05,320
Speaker 1: spoken behind the scenes. Yeah. Well, at the time, Sunpark

298
00:15:05,360 --> 00:15:07,320
Speaker 1: had to come out and deny she had felt pressure

299
00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,160
Speaker 1: to leave the group alongside Kelly and Nathan, and she

300
00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,720
Speaker 1: also reiterated that it was Kelly and Nathan who had resigned.

301
00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:17,120
Speaker 1: Looking back, I do think it seems quite feasible that

302
00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,320
Speaker 1: the decision around out seeing Kelly and Nathan was down

303
00:15:20,360 --> 00:15:23,040
Speaker 1: to money, because the original members of the group were

304
00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:26,040
Speaker 1: on very high salaries, which was a problem when you

305
00:15:26,120 --> 00:15:29,560
Speaker 1: then start bringing these new people in. Also, it becomes

306
00:15:29,560 --> 00:15:32,200
Speaker 1: an issue because they were doing so much touring. So

307
00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:34,680
Speaker 1: when there's extensive touring, maybe the company thought, fuck, we

308
00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:37,320
Speaker 1: can't afford this. I suppose it does make sense from

309
00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,040
Speaker 1: a financial perspective to replace them with younger talent, and

310
00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:43,680
Speaker 1: the new members ended up being a decade younger than

311
00:15:43,760 --> 00:15:46,880
Speaker 1: Kelly and Nathan and presumably a lot cheaper to employee

312
00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:49,400
Speaker 1: for concerts. That being said, I think it was detrimental

313
00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:52,400
Speaker 1: to the overall brand because, as you said, Kate, the

314
00:15:52,440 --> 00:15:56,000
Speaker 1: original members, they were on lunchboxes, they were on all

315
00:15:56,040 --> 00:15:58,880
Speaker 1: of the merch. Everyone loved those cast members, and I

316
00:15:58,920 --> 00:16:01,400
Speaker 1: don't think that they've ever been as relevant since they

317
00:16:01,400 --> 00:16:03,520
Speaker 1: got rid of all of the original cast members. Well,

318
00:16:03,600 --> 00:16:06,280
Speaker 1: Channel nine clearly thought that they could just replace the

319
00:16:06,280 --> 00:16:09,560
Speaker 1: original cast and everything would be fine. They recommitted to

320
00:16:09,640 --> 00:16:13,400
Speaker 1: five new series to be aired until twenty thirteen. However,

321
00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,000
Speaker 1: only three of these series ended up being produced, and

322
00:16:17,160 --> 00:16:19,240
Speaker 1: they had this plan that they thought that they didn't

323
00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:21,600
Speaker 1: need to rely solely on the appeal of the cast

324
00:16:21,640 --> 00:16:25,040
Speaker 1: members as individuals, but it was clear they began backtracking

325
00:16:25,080 --> 00:16:27,960
Speaker 1: by season two because they said that they were trying

326
00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:31,440
Speaker 1: to recreate the success of the earlier episodes by capturing

327
00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,000
Speaker 1: that earlier innocence, and in the thirteenth and final series

328
00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,720
Speaker 1: of High five and twenty eleven they even went back

329
00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,320
Speaker 1: to reintroducing fans to the old songs in a bid

330
00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,800
Speaker 1: to make it popular again. Well, it does make sense

331
00:16:43,880 --> 00:16:46,040
Speaker 1: because all of the kids had grown up by then,

332
00:16:46,200 --> 00:16:49,000
Speaker 1: so they wouldn't really know any different. I do find

333
00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,160
Speaker 1: it interesting that they said that their initial strategy was

334
00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:55,600
Speaker 1: to not concentrate on the cast members as individuals, because

335
00:16:55,920 --> 00:16:59,400
Speaker 1: when they brought over Casey Burgers to replace Charlie Robinson

336
00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:02,760
Speaker 1: used to be on Girls TV. Do you remember that

337
00:17:02,800 --> 00:17:05,119
Speaker 1: shel TV? Girl TV. I think a lot of our

338
00:17:05,160 --> 00:17:08,600
Speaker 1: listeners will remember it. It's like it's a girl. Don't

339
00:17:08,600 --> 00:17:10,680
Speaker 1: get that mad head. I've got enough for those songs.

340
00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,840
Speaker 1: So she already had a bit of a profile in

341
00:17:13,880 --> 00:17:16,119
Speaker 1: the children's entertainment space, so I thought she was a

342
00:17:16,119 --> 00:17:19,840
Speaker 1: really clever pickup. That being said, they were probably fearful

343
00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:21,600
Speaker 1: that they would have the same thing in this second

344
00:17:21,640 --> 00:17:24,480
Speaker 1: generation of High Five. They'd slowly lose class members and

345
00:17:24,520 --> 00:17:28,000
Speaker 1: lose relevance and want more money. Yeah, it will happen again. Yeah. Well.

346
00:17:28,000 --> 00:17:30,920
Speaker 1: By twenty twelve, nine were forced to sell High five

347
00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:35,439
Speaker 1: to a Malaysian equity group called Ajion's following financial difficulty

348
00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:39,120
Speaker 1: at the network, and this new production company shifted High

349
00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,960
Speaker 1: Five's commercial focus to the Southeast Asian market, and they

350
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,760
Speaker 1: also wanted to have new group members, so the audition

351
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,000
Speaker 1: process was filmed and actually turned into a documentary style

352
00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:53,240
Speaker 1: film called Some Kind Of Wonderful, which premiered exclusively through

353
00:17:53,280 --> 00:17:57,760
Speaker 1: Hoyts Cinemas and after extensive touring, this new group released

354
00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,840
Speaker 1: a spinoff show called High five House, which was filmed

355
00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,560
Speaker 1: in Singapore and Malaysia between twenty thirteen and fifteen. Wow,

356
00:18:04,600 --> 00:18:07,800
Speaker 1: that's pretty crazy. I wasn't aware of this High five House.

357
00:18:07,840 --> 00:18:10,800
Speaker 1: It's pretty wild to think how long the brand actually

358
00:18:10,880 --> 00:18:14,680
Speaker 1: lasted though, from nineteen ninety nine till twenty fifteen. They

359
00:18:14,760 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: kind a good run. No, well, they still continued their runs.

360
00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,200
Speaker 1: So in twenty sixteen, the Nine Network renewed its partnership

361
00:18:21,200 --> 00:18:23,439
Speaker 1: with the High five franchise and announced they were planning

362
00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:26,959
Speaker 1: to revive High five with the new cast in twenty seventeen,

363
00:18:27,119 --> 00:18:29,760
Speaker 1: and while it would feature a newcast and set, Nine

364
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:32,679
Speaker 1: retained the original team of producers and writers, and the

365
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:34,879
Speaker 1: show was filmed in Malaysia and aired at the start

366
00:18:34,920 --> 00:18:38,679
Speaker 1: of twenty seventeen on nine Go Now. A second series

367
00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,040
Speaker 1: was planned for twenty eighteen, but filming was halted and

368
00:18:42,080 --> 00:18:46,520
Speaker 1: the Australian production office was closed. The brand then relocated

369
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:49,879
Speaker 1: to Singapore and all five members left the group, so

370
00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:53,840
Speaker 1: temporary touring members were used for the remainder of twenty eighteen,

371
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,720
Speaker 1: with the franchise continuing to employ non permanent performers for

372
00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:01,159
Speaker 1: touring purposes in twenty nineteen. So it seemed like at

373
00:19:01,200 --> 00:19:03,680
Speaker 1: the end they were just like, can anyone just sing

374
00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:06,840
Speaker 1: and dance in this group? The songs were really good.

375
00:19:06,920 --> 00:19:09,080
Speaker 1: If you've got strong writing with songs, I think that

376
00:19:09,200 --> 00:19:10,879
Speaker 1: is going to set you in a good stead. But

377
00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:14,160
Speaker 1: the fact is kids want to know the performers they do.

378
00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:17,280
Speaker 1: And the difference with High Five compared to the Wiggles

379
00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:20,040
Speaker 1: at that time was they actually were a little bit

380
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:22,399
Speaker 1: diverse in that they had females and males. And I

381
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:25,960
Speaker 1: know everyone absolutely loved Kathleen because she was Filipino. And

382
00:19:26,000 --> 00:19:28,560
Speaker 1: I think as a kid, you really aligned to your

383
00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:30,480
Speaker 1: favorite member in the group. It might be one that

384
00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:33,399
Speaker 1: looks like you or has similar attributes to you. And

385
00:19:33,440 --> 00:19:36,879
Speaker 1: I think when they started replacing them with whoever, it

386
00:19:37,000 --> 00:19:39,760
Speaker 1: lost that sparkle. Yeah, now that's where we are going

387
00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,600
Speaker 1: to leave things today. On next week's episode, we'll be

388
00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,040
Speaker 1: diving straight into all the juicy scandals, including a controversial

389
00:19:47,080 --> 00:19:51,320
Speaker 1: men's magazine shoot, a sex scandal, and a secret engagement.

390
00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:54,960
Speaker 1: Plus we will explore where the original cast members are now.

391
00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:57,679
Speaker 1: I can't wait for that. I cannot wait now. This

392
00:19:57,760 --> 00:20:00,520
Speaker 1: podcast was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana

393
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:03,399
Speaker 1: people of the Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders

394
00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:06,040
Speaker 1: past and present and if you do enjoy the show,

395
00:20:06,280 --> 00:20:08,159
Speaker 1: we would love to see you share about it on

396
00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:10,639
Speaker 1: your Instagram stories. And thank you so much again for

397
00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:15,000
Speaker 1: being an outspoken Plus subscriber. We really appreciate it.