WEBVTT - The Making of Hi-5 0:00:01.520 --> 0:00:10.760 Episode one, the making of High Five Together. In nineteen 0:00:10.840 --> 0:00:14.120 ninety nine, High Five burst onto the kids music scene 0:00:15.960 --> 0:00:24.920 Suck Suck. They were universally loved by kids and parents 0:00:24.920 --> 0:00:27.480 for their catchy pop music and wholesome vibes. 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:32.280 Our director kept saying, more energy, more energy, give us more. 0:00:32.520 --> 0:00:35.040 That's really funny because Nathan and I took that really 0:00:35.080 --> 0:00:37.640 personally and we just kept going up and up and up. 0:00:37.880 --> 0:00:39.920 I was ready to explode. If you watched that first 0:00:39.920 --> 0:00:42.120 series I had, I was like, hi, everyone like I 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:44.239 was that excited. At the end of the series, we 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.599 were at a rat party and he said, I was 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:48.440 never talking to you too. By the way, they even 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:52.200 began rivaling Australian kids supergroup The Wiggles. There was one 0:00:52.240 --> 0:00:55.640 small difference though, which became a big problem for the cast. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:56.840 The business model. 0:00:57.160 --> 0:00:59.240 It was busy. I mean, it was exhausting. At the 0:00:59.280 --> 0:01:02.040 same time we were teenagers. We were loving the ride, 0:01:02.040 --> 0:01:03.480 but it was long hours. 0:01:03.520 --> 0:01:06.480 In this series we explore what was really happening behind 0:01:06.520 --> 0:01:10.960 the bubblegum illusion of Australia's most popular kids entertainers, and 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:13.679 what happened when they were no longer paid to maintain 0:01:13.760 --> 0:01:14.640 the facade. 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:16.880 You have your arguments, you have your ups and your downs. 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:19.880 It's like if you're working with someone constantly every single 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:21.600 day for ten years. Of course there's going to be 0:01:22.880 --> 0:01:25.800 times where you getting each other's way or across the line. 0:01:25.840 --> 0:01:28.200 But all in all, we were a great family and 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:29.360 we worked really well together. 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.880 We are journalists, Kate and Sophie Torbert, and this is outspoken. 0:01:32.880 --> 0:01:37.320 Plus I think we need to point out that we 0:01:37.319 --> 0:01:40.399 were ten years old when High five first burst onto 0:01:40.400 --> 0:01:44.920 the scene, and probably not their preschool demographic, but it's 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.880 safe to say we still loved the band. They definitely 0:01:47.880 --> 0:01:50.040 did make a huge impression on me at the time, 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.080 and I think that that is the key to High 0:01:52.080 --> 0:01:54.760 Fi's popularity, the fact that they didn't just appeal to 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:58.320 their target demographic. It was also older people and parents 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:01.760 who loved the music were fascinated by High Five. I 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:04.080 need to know what was your favorite High Five song, 0:02:04.160 --> 0:02:06.880 because since doing the research, I have been listening to 0:02:06.920 --> 0:02:08.560 a lot of them and they are getting stuck in 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.560 my head or this is a little bit embarrassing to admit, 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:14.280 but at our school we had red faces where for 0:02:14.360 --> 0:02:16.680 those who aren't old enough to remember on hey, hey, 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:18.919 it's Saturday, there was a segment called Red Faces where 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:21.040 people would do skits and they'd get scored. So we 0:02:21.120 --> 0:02:24.040 had that at our school and we did a number 0:02:24.040 --> 0:02:26.400 of High Five performances. I think we did it to 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:29.280 the song North, South East and Western. Also Animals, so 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.440 they are my favorite. Let's throw on an upsot to 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:50.000 remind listeners of these songs, so second Animals. I wonder 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.160 if these are available on Spotify because I think I 0:02:52.200 --> 0:02:54.480 need to make my own High five playlist now. And 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:58.000 High five will also iconic At Carols by Candlelight, they 0:02:58.080 --> 0:03:00.639 made Carols by Candlelight and it's it's never been the 0:03:00.680 --> 0:03:04.400 same since the original cast weren't on there on Christmas Eve. Yeah. 0:03:04.480 --> 0:03:07.160 The fashion takes me back so much as well, because 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.240 there's so much layering going on. There's also a lot 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.119 of pedal pushes and skirts over the top of pedal pushes. 0:03:12.160 --> 0:03:15.560 The hairstyles were also amazing. I remember Kelly always used 0:03:15.560 --> 0:03:18.919 to have these really cool twisty updos, lots of butterfly clips, yeah, 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.560 butterfly clips, maybe a few slutstrands as well. And Tim 0:03:21.840 --> 0:03:24.440 his hair was always so spiky, so much hair gel 0:03:24.520 --> 0:03:26.840 going on there. Now, let's get into how it all 0:03:26.880 --> 0:03:30.320 began because the concept of High five was developed when 0:03:30.400 --> 0:03:34.240 Helen Harris and Posey Graham Evans joined forces and created 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:37.040 a production company called Kids Like Us. And it's pretty 0:03:37.040 --> 0:03:40.160 interesting because Harris had already had great success in early 0:03:40.280 --> 0:03:44.279 childhood entertainment because she was the creator of Bananas in Pajamas, 0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:47.120 Oh Yeah, and Graham Evans actually went on to be 0:03:47.160 --> 0:03:51.280 the mastermind behind McLeod's Daughters, so very successful women. And 0:03:51.320 --> 0:03:54.160 the idea was to try and capture kids attention by 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.640 blending educational theories with musical appeal. So Harris and Graham 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:01.960 Evans worked on the concept with childhood educators and pitched 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:04.560 the idea of High five to Channel nine, who snapped 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:06.760 it up straight away. And it really helped at the 0:04:06.800 --> 0:04:08.840 time because the head of drama at nine had a 0:04:08.880 --> 0:04:12.320 young child. Now. The auditions to find the group were 0:04:12.360 --> 0:04:15.480 held at the ABC studios in nineteen ninety eight, and 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:18.440 in an interview with Nathan Foley, he explained that he 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.080 was just eighteen at the time and he got a 0:04:21.080 --> 0:04:23.839 call telling him that there were auditions being held for 0:04:23.920 --> 0:04:27.520 new kids shows and they were looking for five presenters, singers, 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.839 dancers and actors. Now Nathan was one of three hundred 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:33.680 people that turned up to the first audition, and the 0:04:33.720 --> 0:04:37.640 group was narrowed down until twenty five people remained. It's 0:04:37.680 --> 0:04:39.560 quite interesting because it sort of reminds me of pop 0:04:39.600 --> 0:04:41.799 stars back in the day and all of those talent shows, 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:44.919 because the group was then split into five groups of five, 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:48.560 and one of those groups contained Tim Harding, Kelly Crawford, 0:04:48.680 --> 0:04:53.039 Nathan Foley, Charlie Robinson, and Kathleen Dileong Jones, who went 0:04:53.080 --> 0:04:56.000 on to be the original members of High five Now. 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.279 Nathan said that their voices jelled so well together that 0:04:59.320 --> 0:05:02.480 there was this real big aha moment and producers are like, 0:05:02.680 --> 0:05:05.320 that is our group now. They started to record the 0:05:05.320 --> 0:05:08.159 pilot at the ABC, and then when Channel nine took 0:05:08.200 --> 0:05:11.920 on the show, everything started to move really quickly. I 0:05:11.960 --> 0:05:14.880 think what really set High five apart was the music, 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:17.799 because it was able to stand alone from the show. 0:05:17.880 --> 0:05:21.080 Even as a consumer of that show, my favorite bit 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:22.960 was the start and the end of the episode because 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.320 that's when they'd have the little concerts. Yeah, and it's 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.360 interesting because the creators of High five took inspiration from 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:31.800 the Spy Scales dance moves and they believed that preschoolers 0:05:31.800 --> 0:05:33.960 could copy them, and they really did. We saw it 0:05:33.960 --> 0:05:36.800 with songs like North, South, East and West. I mean 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:38.799 the kids sometimes got a little bit confused which direction 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.279 to go in. I think it seemed a lot cooler 0:05:41.400 --> 0:05:45.279 than The Wiggles as well, because the performers were wearing 0:05:45.320 --> 0:05:48.279 clothes that were very of the time, and they role 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.839 models for the kids. Well. The group style was modeled 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.120 on the fast paced nature of pop music, and in 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.240 a recent interview, Nathan Foley reflected on the success of 0:05:56.320 --> 0:05:58.640 High Five and he put it down to the show's 0:05:58.640 --> 0:06:01.640 ability to relate to botho kids and parents, and he 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:03.640 said parents could actually sit down and have a bit 0:06:03.680 --> 0:06:06.360 of a laugh as well. Again, he said the music 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:08.880 was a very big part of it because, as you said, 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:12.039 it was pop orientated and while lyrically it was for 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.760 the kids, musically it was produced just like pop music, 0:06:15.800 --> 0:06:17.359 so if you did get rid of the lyrics, you 0:06:17.360 --> 0:06:20.480 could easily play it on radio. It's pretty crazy because 0:06:20.520 --> 0:06:23.640 in the same year that the show launched, Sony Music 0:06:23.680 --> 0:06:27.239 released High Five's debut album, which was called Jump and Jive, 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:30.599 and it reached number thirty three on the ARIA album charts. 0:06:30.760 --> 0:06:32.840 What Play is My Mind looking back at this time 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.160 is just how young the members of the group were 0:06:35.240 --> 0:06:38.240 when it first launched. So Charlie Robinson was the youngest 0:06:38.279 --> 0:06:41.280 she was only eighteen, while Kelly was the oldest at 0:06:41.279 --> 0:06:44.920 twenty five. And the idea was that High five weren't 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:47.159 meant to be childhood educators, but they were meant to 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.719 be more like older siblings or friends to the kids, 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:52.200 and I think this really worked well. At the time, 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:55.560 no one really knew how rapidly this show was going 0:06:55.600 --> 0:06:57.560 to take off, and it really didn't take long for 0:06:57.680 --> 0:07:00.200 High Five to become one of Australia's most success for 0:07:00.440 --> 0:07:04.240 musical groups. The show was actually broadcast daily into eighty 0:07:04.440 --> 0:07:07.920 one countries. They also topped the music charts, with four 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:10.880 of their albums reaching the top ten and receiving five 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:14.760 consecutive ARIA Music Awards for Best Children's Album and the 0:07:14.800 --> 0:07:19.000 original group also received three Logis for Most Outstanding Children's Program. 0:07:19.280 --> 0:07:22.040 And as you mentioned, they had this international fan base, 0:07:22.080 --> 0:07:24.960 which meant they were regularly touring across Australia, Britain, New 0:07:25.080 --> 0:07:28.560 Zealand and Singapore and merchandise was another huge part of 0:07:28.600 --> 0:07:31.040 their success, so High Five actually had a range at 0:07:31.120 --> 0:07:34.160 Kama which was not just clothing and accessories, but also 0:07:34.200 --> 0:07:40.160 included dinnerware, games, craft products, backpacks, luggage, Christmas and Easter confectionery, 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.240 and even a jumping castle and carousel. Now success didn't 0:07:44.280 --> 0:07:47.320 come easy though. The young group members worked really hard. 0:07:47.360 --> 0:07:50.480 So they had forty five episodes to record each series, 0:07:50.760 --> 0:07:53.640 and they spent three months each year recording the show. 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:56.280 So on a Sunday they would get their scripts and 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:59.000 then they'd spend three days rehearsing what they were going 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:01.840 to film, and then two days filming it. Now, the 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:04.640 filming days started very early in the morning and didn't 0:08:04.720 --> 0:08:07.480 end until seven or eight at night, and in terms 0:08:07.520 --> 0:08:11.040 of rehearsals, this involved learning scripts off by heart for 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.520 their segments, as well as new songs because they didn't 0:08:13.520 --> 0:08:16.920 have an AUTOQ. And when they weren't filming, they toured 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.280 for seven months of the year, doing three one and 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:22.160 a half hour shows a day, six days a week 0:08:22.200 --> 0:08:25.480 around Australia, Asia, New Zealand and the whole of the UK. 0:08:26.160 --> 0:08:28.680 And after all of that they were allowed one month 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:31.040 off a year. I didn't realize that they were working 0:08:31.080 --> 0:08:34.520 the cast members this hard. Now, despite the very grueling schedules, 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:36.960 there still wasn't enough time for them to tap into 0:08:36.960 --> 0:08:40.720 the American market, so another High Five was actually created, 0:08:41.000 --> 0:08:43.880 and in a recent interview, Nathan Foley spoke about how 0:08:43.920 --> 0:08:47.280 he nearly ended up in hospital from the exhausting schedule. 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:48.520 Let's throw to what he said. 0:08:48.840 --> 0:08:50.920 It was busy. I mean it was exhausting. At the 0:08:50.920 --> 0:08:54.360 same time, I think there's not a lot of groups 0:08:54.640 --> 0:08:58.120 in the world that actually do the TV thing but 0:08:58.160 --> 0:09:01.800 also do the recording also, so go and visit the 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:06.520 children's hospitals and also have no time. You know, we 0:09:06.520 --> 0:09:09.640 were teenagers were loving the ride, but it was long hours. 0:09:09.920 --> 0:09:13.160 Now, while people often compared High Five and The Wiggles, 0:09:13.280 --> 0:09:17.000 there was a major difference between these two kids entertainment groups, 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:19.880 which was the business model. So the original members of 0:09:19.920 --> 0:09:23.520 The Wiggles actually created their own concept and therefore they 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:27.880 owned the franchise and merchandising rights, whereas with High Five, 0:09:28.360 --> 0:09:31.319 their members were paid a salary by the production company 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:34.400 which created them. So in terms of money, the Wiggles 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.640 definitely reigned supreme. In two thousand and eight, they topped 0:09:37.679 --> 0:09:41.520 business magazines Business Reviews Weekly annual list of top earning 0:09:41.640 --> 0:09:45.640 entertainers with forty five million dollars. High five ended up 0:09:45.679 --> 0:09:49.160 coming in fifth place that year with eighteen million. However, 0:09:49.200 --> 0:09:51.000 as I said, the members of High five did not 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:54.400 hold equity. I would really love to know what their 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.560 salaries were at the time and to have seen the 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.000 growth during the success. 0:09:58.280 --> 0:09:58.480 Yeah. 0:09:58.520 --> 0:10:00.920 Well, it seems like the production company did look after 0:10:00.960 --> 0:10:04.360 the original faces of High five. But the thing is, 0:10:04.400 --> 0:10:06.760 as soon as you left the group, you didn't get 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:09.720 paid anymore, so you're not living off the royalties like 0:10:09.760 --> 0:10:12.880 the Wiggles. I mean in saying that the Wiggles did 0:10:12.880 --> 0:10:15.360 write their own songs, it sounds like High five weren't 0:10:15.400 --> 0:10:18.800 involved in that actual creative process. So I understand perhaps 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.280 not making royalties off the songs themselves, but they were 0:10:22.320 --> 0:10:25.240 the faces of the brand. Well, their personal ip was 0:10:25.280 --> 0:10:27.320 the brand. When you look at some of the merchandise 0:10:27.400 --> 0:10:30.320 back then, it was literally cartoons based on them, like 0:10:30.440 --> 0:10:32.640 they were the faces of this brand. I did see 0:10:32.679 --> 0:10:35.640 recently that Sophia Bush was complaining about when she was 0:10:35.679 --> 0:10:39.600 working on One Tree Hill that they often got used 0:10:39.600 --> 0:10:42.679 to do ads and never got paid anything because they said, oh, well, 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:45.920 that's just to promote the show. That's the difficulty. When 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:48.320 there's a bunch of young people who were really eager 0:10:48.360 --> 0:10:50.719 for their big break. They'll sign anything just to get 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:53.760 their foot in the door, and unfortunately those contracts have 0:10:53.920 --> 0:10:57.080 long standing consequences. Yeah, and I think because everyone knew 0:10:57.080 --> 0:10:59.240 how much the Wiggles were making and then saw High 0:10:59.320 --> 0:11:01.640 Five were making a lot, you just assume that the 0:11:01.679 --> 0:11:03.960 talent on the show is also rolling in it. And 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.000 Nathan recalled in an interview how he received a lot 0:11:07.040 --> 0:11:09.800 of backlash when he appeared on I Will Survive after 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.400 leaving High Five, and people were saying he was too 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.199 loaded to go on the show and he didn't need 0:11:14.240 --> 0:11:17.280 the money, and he said, well, unfortunately, that's actually not 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:19.040 the case. Did you ever feel like there was a 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:21.800 bit of competition between High Five and the Wiggles? Well, 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.040 as a kid, I love the Wiggles, but I feel 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.199 like I progressed to High Five, even though I was 0:11:26.200 --> 0:11:29.200 probably too old to like High Five. And you would assume, 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.240 because there were only three big kids bands at the time, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.120 that there would be some sort of competition, because really 0:11:35.200 --> 0:11:37.600 it was High Five, the Wiggles, and to a lesser 0:11:37.640 --> 0:11:40.240 extent than Holy Dook God, I've totally forgot about the 0:11:40.240 --> 0:11:43.120 Hooly Doolies. But Nathan Foley has confirmed that there was 0:11:43.160 --> 0:11:46.440 literally no competition between the bands. They said that they 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:49.440 used to do photo shoots together and they have actually 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:53.000 remained friends. Nathan even performed at the Wiggles reunion tour 0:11:53.040 --> 0:11:55.440 back in twenty twenty for the Bushfire Appeal. Isn't that 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.760 so wholesome? I love the fact that there wasn't anything 0:11:57.880 --> 0:12:00.800 unsavory going on behind the scenes. Two thousand and six, 0:12:00.840 --> 0:12:03.440 sadly was the beginning of the end for the original 0:12:03.480 --> 0:12:06.880 group when Kathleen announced she was pregnant and son Park 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.600 was brought in as her temporary replacement while she was 0:12:09.640 --> 0:12:13.080 on maternity leave. And while Kathleen was intent on returning 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:15.880 to High five in two thousand and seven, she decided 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.840 to make her decision a permanent one to focus on motherhood. 0:12:19.160 --> 0:12:21.679 So while Kathleen was the first member to leave, by 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:24.160 the end of two thousand and eight, all the original 0:12:24.200 --> 0:12:26.760 cast members had been replaced. So this is in a 0:12:26.800 --> 0:12:30.320 span of two years. I totally forgot this. But Tim 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:33.040 was the next original member to leave the group, and 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.839 he left because he got injured in a serious motorcycle 0:12:35.920 --> 0:12:38.880 accident in June two thousand and seven. So the poor 0:12:38.920 --> 0:12:41.080 thing ended up fracturing his spine and he was in 0:12:41.080 --> 0:12:44.200 a wheelchair for six weeks, and his injuries left him 0:12:44.240 --> 0:12:47.160 unable to keep up with the pace of High Five's performances, 0:12:47.440 --> 0:12:51.400 and he was replaced by his understudy, Stevie Nicholson. He 0:12:51.480 --> 0:12:54.040 officially ended up leaving the group in November two thousand 0:12:54.080 --> 0:12:57.400 and seven after recovering from his injuries. Things were starting 0:12:57.400 --> 0:13:00.520 to crumble because just three months later, Charlie decided to 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.560 leave the group because she wanted to pursue acting, and 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:07.360 Casey Burgess was brought in as Charlie's replacement. Big changes 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.040 were also happening on the business side of things, so 0:13:10.120 --> 0:13:13.640 the Nine network and production company Southern Star purchased the 0:13:13.720 --> 0:13:16.720 High five brand in March two thousand and eight, and 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:20.040 this meant the original creators Harris and Graham Evans were 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:23.720 no longer involved in the franchise, and just seven months 0:13:23.760 --> 0:13:26.480 after this, Kelly announced she would be leaving the group 0:13:26.520 --> 0:13:29.079 at the end of the year to explore other options. 0:13:29.600 --> 0:13:31.760 A month later, Nathan said he would be leaving to 0:13:31.800 --> 0:13:36.079 focus on his adult music career. Then in December, Kathleen's replacement, 0:13:36.160 --> 0:13:38.520 Sun Park, revealed she too would be leaving as she 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:42.080 had only really signed on to be a temporary replacement. Now, 0:13:42.120 --> 0:13:45.120 based on all of these exits, rumors started swelling that 0:13:45.200 --> 0:13:48.240 Southern Star, who was the new production company, had dumped 0:13:48.280 --> 0:13:51.120 Kelly and Nathan because they wanted to recruit younger and 0:13:51.200 --> 0:13:54.840 cheaper replacements, and it was reported that Nathan and Kelly's 0:13:54.840 --> 0:13:57.400 farewell at Karras by Candlelight was going to be a 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:00.720 strained affair, with sources close to the Grip claiming the 0:14:00.760 --> 0:14:03.960 pair had been jilted by the production company. To make 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:08.800 matters worse, allegedly, Kelly and Nathan had been dropped without consultation, 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.600 and according to a source, Nathan was allegedly the last 0:14:12.840 --> 0:14:16.320 year that his High Five days were numbered. So apparently 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.000 what happened is he stopped for petrol on the Northeast 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.400 coast and a guy at the petrol station said to him, Hey, 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:25.640 my brother just got your job yesterday. Now this was 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.880 the first time he'd heard he was being replaced. That 0:14:29.120 --> 0:14:32.320 is so crushing. What are the odds of him stopping 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:35.920 at the specific petrol station that his replacements brother is 0:14:35.960 --> 0:14:38.040 working on like the High five production team must have 0:14:38.040 --> 0:14:41.600 been for Fox says now, there were media reports circulating 0:14:41.640 --> 0:14:43.760 about this, and the source was spilling all of this 0:14:43.920 --> 0:14:46.200 news to a journalist. I mean, let's be honest, I'd 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.640 assume that the source was Nathan. Well, look, they tried 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:51.680 to cover Nathan's tracks because they did say he refused 0:14:51.720 --> 0:14:54.040 to comment on the matter, and quoted him saying, look, 0:14:54.200 --> 0:14:55.680 I really don't want to talk about it. I've got 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.040 a contract until Christmas and I intend to honor it. 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.400 When the main person in the story he says I 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.120 don't want to talk about it, that means they've already 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:05.320 spoken behind the scenes. Yeah. Well, at the time, Sunpark 0:15:05.360 --> 0:15:07.320 had to come out and deny she had felt pressure 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:10.160 to leave the group alongside Kelly and Nathan, and she 0:15:10.280 --> 0:15:13.720 also reiterated that it was Kelly and Nathan who had resigned. 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:17.120 Looking back, I do think it seems quite feasible that 0:15:17.360 --> 0:15:20.320 the decision around out seeing Kelly and Nathan was down 0:15:20.360 --> 0:15:23.040 to money, because the original members of the group were 0:15:23.080 --> 0:15:26.040 on very high salaries, which was a problem when you 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:29.560 then start bringing these new people in. Also, it becomes 0:15:29.560 --> 0:15:32.200 an issue because they were doing so much touring. So 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.680 when there's extensive touring, maybe the company thought, fuck, we 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.320 can't afford this. I suppose it does make sense from 0:15:37.320 --> 0:15:41.040 a financial perspective to replace them with younger talent, and 0:15:41.120 --> 0:15:43.680 the new members ended up being a decade younger than 0:15:43.760 --> 0:15:46.880 Kelly and Nathan and presumably a lot cheaper to employee 0:15:46.880 --> 0:15:49.400 for concerts. That being said, I think it was detrimental 0:15:49.480 --> 0:15:52.400 to the overall brand because, as you said, Kate, the 0:15:52.440 --> 0:15:56.000 original members, they were on lunchboxes, they were on all 0:15:56.040 --> 0:15:58.880 of the merch. Everyone loved those cast members, and I 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.400 don't think that they've ever been as relevant since they 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:03.520 got rid of all of the original cast members. Well, 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.280 Channel nine clearly thought that they could just replace the 0:16:06.280 --> 0:16:09.560 original cast and everything would be fine. They recommitted to 0:16:09.640 --> 0:16:13.400 five new series to be aired until twenty thirteen. However, 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:17.000 only three of these series ended up being produced, and 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:19.240 they had this plan that they thought that they didn't 0:16:19.280 --> 0:16:21.600 need to rely solely on the appeal of the cast 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.040 members as individuals, but it was clear they began backtracking 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.960 by season two because they said that they were trying 0:16:27.960 --> 0:16:31.440 to recreate the success of the earlier episodes by capturing 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:35.000 that earlier innocence, and in the thirteenth and final series 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.720 of High five and twenty eleven they even went back 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:41.320 to reintroducing fans to the old songs in a bid 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:43.800 to make it popular again. Well, it does make sense 0:16:43.880 --> 0:16:46.040 because all of the kids had grown up by then, 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:49.000 so they wouldn't really know any different. I do find 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.160 it interesting that they said that their initial strategy was 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.600 to not concentrate on the cast members as individuals, because 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:59.400 when they brought over Casey Burgers to replace Charlie Robinson 0:17:00.360 --> 0:17:02.760 used to be on Girls TV. Do you remember that 0:17:02.800 --> 0:17:05.119 shel TV? Girl TV. I think a lot of our 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:08.600 listeners will remember it. It's like it's a girl. Don't 0:17:08.600 --> 0:17:10.680 get that mad head. I've got enough for those songs. 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.840 So she already had a bit of a profile in 0:17:13.880 --> 0:17:16.119 the children's entertainment space, so I thought she was a 0:17:16.119 --> 0:17:19.840 really clever pickup. That being said, they were probably fearful 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:21.600 that they would have the same thing in this second 0:17:21.640 --> 0:17:24.480 generation of High Five. They'd slowly lose class members and 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:28.000 lose relevance and want more money. Yeah, it will happen again. Yeah. Well. 0:17:28.000 --> 0:17:30.920 By twenty twelve, nine were forced to sell High five 0:17:31.000 --> 0:17:35.439 to a Malaysian equity group called Ajion's following financial difficulty 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.120 at the network, and this new production company shifted High 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.960 Five's commercial focus to the Southeast Asian market, and they 0:17:43.000 --> 0:17:45.760 also wanted to have new group members, so the audition 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:49.000 process was filmed and actually turned into a documentary style 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:53.240 film called Some Kind Of Wonderful, which premiered exclusively through 0:17:53.280 --> 0:17:57.760 Hoyts Cinemas and after extensive touring, this new group released 0:17:57.760 --> 0:18:00.840 a spinoff show called High five House, which was filmed 0:18:00.840 --> 0:18:04.560 in Singapore and Malaysia between twenty thirteen and fifteen. Wow, 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.800 that's pretty crazy. I wasn't aware of this High five House. 0:18:07.840 --> 0:18:10.800 It's pretty wild to think how long the brand actually 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:14.680 lasted though, from nineteen ninety nine till twenty fifteen. They 0:18:14.760 --> 0:18:17.440 kind a good run. No, well, they still continued their runs. 0:18:17.520 --> 0:18:21.200 So in twenty sixteen, the Nine Network renewed its partnership 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:23.439 with the High five franchise and announced they were planning 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.959 to revive High five with the new cast in twenty seventeen, 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.760 and while it would feature a newcast and set, Nine 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:32.679 retained the original team of producers and writers, and the 0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:34.879 show was filmed in Malaysia and aired at the start 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:38.679 of twenty seventeen on nine Go Now. A second series 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:42.040 was planned for twenty eighteen, but filming was halted and 0:18:42.080 --> 0:18:46.520 the Australian production office was closed. The brand then relocated 0:18:46.520 --> 0:18:49.879 to Singapore and all five members left the group, so 0:18:50.080 --> 0:18:53.840 temporary touring members were used for the remainder of twenty eighteen, 0:18:53.920 --> 0:18:57.720 with the franchise continuing to employ non permanent performers for 0:18:57.800 --> 0:19:01.159 touring purposes in twenty nineteen. So it seemed like at 0:19:01.200 --> 0:19:03.680 the end they were just like, can anyone just sing 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:06.840 and dance in this group? The songs were really good. 0:19:06.920 --> 0:19:09.080 If you've got strong writing with songs, I think that 0:19:09.200 --> 0:19:10.879 is going to set you in a good stead. But 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:14.160 the fact is kids want to know the performers they do. 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:17.280 And the difference with High Five compared to the Wiggles 0:19:17.320 --> 0:19:20.040 at that time was they actually were a little bit 0:19:20.080 --> 0:19:22.399 diverse in that they had females and males. And I 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:25.960 know everyone absolutely loved Kathleen because she was Filipino. And 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.560 I think as a kid, you really aligned to your 0:19:28.600 --> 0:19:30.480 favorite member in the group. It might be one that 0:19:30.520 --> 0:19:33.399 looks like you or has similar attributes to you. And 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:36.879 I think when they started replacing them with whoever, it 0:19:37.000 --> 0:19:39.760 lost that sparkle. Yeah, now that's where we are going 0:19:39.760 --> 0:19:42.600 to leave things today. On next week's episode, we'll be 0:19:42.680 --> 0:19:47.040 diving straight into all the juicy scandals, including a controversial 0:19:47.080 --> 0:19:51.320 men's magazine shoot, a sex scandal, and a secret engagement. 0:19:51.359 --> 0:19:54.960 Plus we will explore where the original cast members are now. 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:57.679 I can't wait for that. I cannot wait now. This 0:19:57.760 --> 0:20:00.520 podcast was recorded on the traditional land of the Ghana 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:03.399 people of the Adelaide Planes. We pay respect to elders 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:06.040 past and present and if you do enjoy the show, 0:20:06.280 --> 0:20:08.159 we would love to see you share about it on 0:20:08.200 --> 0:20:10.639 your Instagram stories. And thank you so much again for 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:15.000 being an outspoken Plus subscriber. We really appreciate it.