It wasn't even 8am when Richard Wilkins left Blue Wiggle Anthony Field speechless with what seemed like a totally innocent three-word question: "What about Sam?"
Sandwiched between Yellow Wiggle Greg Page and Purple Wiggle Jeff Fatt on the Today couch in 2012, Field was thrown.
They were supposed to be talking about Page's exciting return to the group after his retirement in 2006 for health reasons. Field wasn't quite sure what he was being asked about Sam Moran, who had worn the yellow skivvy in Page's absence.
Watch the video above.
READ MORE: Emotional moment tearful Adele spots Céline Dion in crowd
Greg Page, Anthony Field and Jeff Fatt on the Today couch in 2012. (Today)What followed was an awkward TV moment that Field admits in his new memoir Out Of The Blue "had the potential to be part of a Wiggle's career obituary".
"Some of the media pounced on us," the 61-year-old tells 9Honey Celebrity, "they made us look a bit like we were mean-spirited, but we really weren't."
For those who don't remember, when the Wiggles announced Page was returning and Moran was moving on to other projects in 2012 there was a fair bit of speculation around the circumstances of Moran's exit.
Some of it painted founding Wiggles members Field, Page, Fatt and Murray Cook in a negative light – but Field had no clue about the rumours when Wilkins asked him about Sam on national TV, hence his awkward response.
For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
"They made us look a bit like we were mean spirited, but we really weren't." (Getty)"It was made out that we were being nasty, and we actually weren't. I was just trying to keep the company going," Field revealed.
The truth is that the Wiggles were "up to [their] eyeballs in debt" in 2012 and simply couldn't afford to keep Moran on (Moran was reportedly being paid about $200,000 a year to wear the yellow skivvy).
But Field wasn't about to divulge the band's financial issues on breakfast TV.
"When Greg left [in 2006], we were struggling," he tells 9honey Celebrity, referring to the multi-million dollar payout Page collected after initially retiring. It left the band in the red.
So when Page offered to return in 2012, it was just what the band needed to get back on track financially.
"He was just coming back to help us. He was never coming back to push Sam out," Field says decisively.
The Wiggles pose for a photograph in 2005, shortly before Page retired for the first time in 2006. (Matt King/Getty)The Australian icon didn't shy away from including tough moments like that infamous Today interview while writing Out Of The Blue, which documents Field's life from growing up in Sydney, to playing with The Cockroaches, joining the Army, and starting the one of the biggest bands in Australian history: the Wiggles.
He writes candidly about the dark side of touring for months at a time during the height of the band's international fame, shining a light on the physical and mental toll it took on him, Page, Fatt and Cook over the years.
READ MORE: Saoirse Ronan silences male stars on talk show with comeback
From chronic pain and countless injuries, to tearful phone calls home to family they hadn't seen in far too long, they kept the show going even when they were falling apart behind the scenes.
"We were going to America for nine months a year, traveling all over the country," Field says, "not even thinking, 'maybe we should have a little break.'"
They loved every second of it, but it came at a cost.
Field and the other OG members struggled physically and mentally after years of touring non-stop. (Matt King/Getty)Field's mental health, which had been in flux since his teen years, deteriorated and there were several occasions when wife Michaela had to talk him out of giving it all up when the pressure grew too much.
"Your balance in life just goes way out," Field says. Sometimes, it threatened to overwhelm him entirely.
With support from his loved ones and professionals, Field was eventually able to get on top of his mental health but it was a long battle and his journey with clinic depression is still ongoing.
It's something he insisted on being honest about in Out Of The Blue, which doesn't try to tie Field's mental health journey up with a neat bow at the end. After all, that's not how mental illness operates.
"You're never really 'out of the blue'. You learn how to cope – healthy lifestyle, you see the psychiatrist, psychologist, you're medicated – I don't think you ever conquer it," Field says.
"But with help, you can really live a really good life."
Field on his wedding day with wife Michaela and bandmates Jeff Fatt, Greg Page and Murray Cook. (Instagram/Anthony Field)And what a life he's lived, with a beautiful wife, three amazing children, and one of the most popular kids' music groups on the planet to show for it.
Out Of The Blue is perhaps the most honest retrospective of Field's life to date and while he was a little hesitant about including some of the most candid details, all it took was one person's seal of approval to cure him of any doubts.
But it wasn't an A-list friend or author; it was his mum.
READ MORE: Nicole Kidman's public message to Keith Urban on stage
"The only thing I was worried about was my mum, what she thought of it," Field says bashfully.
"But she read it, and she said, 'It's all true, and I really enjoyed reading it', so I thought, 'OK, it all stays.'"
(Allen and Unwin)Out of the Blue is out today in all bookstores. You can see The Wiggles at Wiggle and Learn BIG SHOW will be touring Australia from November 9! Tickets on sale now atwww.thewiggles.com.au/bigshow
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.
English (US) ·