A WOMAN is joining The Wiggles.

Emma Watkins, a 20-year-old backup dancer with the group, will become the new yellow Wiggle as part of a major shake-up of the children entertainers.

Jeff Fatt, Murray Cook and Greg Page will retire at the end of 2012, making way for new faces from the back-up crew.

Anthony Field is the only original Wiggle who will remain as part of the show.

"Anthony loves it too much," a spokesman said.

Anthony and Emma will be joined up front by Lachlan Gillespie and Simon Pryce, who have been handpicked by the group to become the purple, yellow and red Wiggles.

"We've been entertaining children around the world for 21 years and it’s important we plan for the future so that the Wiggles can keep wiggling in the years to come,” Murray said.

He said the touring over the past 21 years has kept the band members away from their families for long periods of time.

"We miss them and want to spend more time at home which is a major reason why three of us decided it was time to hand on our skivvies to a new generation," Murray said.

Greg said when The Wiggles asked him to return to the group last year, he was thrilled at the thought of performing with the three guys he started the group with 21 years ago.

Scroll down to see Emma in action

"Murray and Jeff’s decision to stop performing at the end of the year - it's a nice sense of closure to end my time on stage during the final tour with all the original members of the group," Greg said.

"We want to thank all our Wiggly fans - it’s been a great ride in our big red car. We are really looking forward to saying farewell and having one last dance with everyone during the tour," Jeff said.

There was no talk of asking former Wiggle Sam Moran back into the fold. A spokesman said Sam had moved on to pursue a career in musical theatre.

Emma, Lachy and Simon will join the original members of the Wiggles 'on the road' for their Farewell tour. After that they will pull on the yellow, purple, and red skivvies and join Anthony on stage so that The Wiggles can continue to entertain and delight a new generation of children.

"Lachy, Simon and Emma all have wonderful singing voices and are experienced children’s performers. They have worked with us for several years, playing various characters including Wiggly dancers, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Captain Feathersword and Wags the Dog," Anthony said.

Emma said it was a huge thrill to become the Yellow Wiggle and the first female skivvy-wearer in the group's 21-year history aside from Kylie Minogue, who was made an honorary Pink Wiggle in 2009.

"I’ve been a big fan of The Wiggles since I was a little girl, so it’s a huge privilege to be invited to wear one of the skivvies and perform for a whole new generation of children,” she said.

Emma was the winner of the My Mutation dance competition, which was choreographed by famed dance instructor Kelley Abbey and has performed in music clips for Nikki Webster and various fashion shows.

Lachy said he was delighted to be invited to become a Wiggle, having spent almost three years with them as part of the touring show.

Each year the Wiggles performs to nearly a million people worldwide, and have sold 23 million DVDs and seven million CDs since they started.

See Emma in action in My Mutation