The stars continued to align for Telethon at Perth Airport on Friday afternoon as a raft of Australia’s most prominent entertainment personalities touched down for an action-packed weekend of fundraising.
Greeted by students from Redcliffe Primary School and the legendary Fat Cat, the first arrivals featured a couple of Telethon first-timers in The Wiggles stars Tsehay Hawkins and Lucia Field.
Equal parts excited and nervous, the high-energy pair promised “big surprises” on stage.
“I’m expecting a lot of fun, singing, a bit of chaos, and answering telephones — which I’m actually more nervous for than the performance,” Blue wiggle Lucia told The West Australian.
Yellow Wiggle Tsehay, a self-proclaimed “Gen Z”, admitted she’s more comfortable texting than picking up landlines but was excited to turn back the clock and meet local families.
The pair will return to RAC Arena on November 21-22 with the rest of their crew for The Wiggles’ Sparkle! BIG SHOW.
For The Chase’s David Poltorak, better known as The Professor, he’ll be hoping his lip syncing skills prove as impressive as his trivia knowledge when he’s “dancing to some old disco tunes”.
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Boogie Wonderland, or even Avril Lavigne’s Sk8er Boy, are on the cards — “some of the classics”.
Sunrise’s Katie Brown skipped through the arrival gate clutching the hand of Fat Cat, with singer Mark Vincent, members of The Ten Tenors, as well as The 60 Four also touching down.
A trio of screen stars left home at Summer Bay for a weekend away in Perth, as returning pair Kyle Shilling and Hailey Pinto educated newcomer Rocco Forrester-Sach on what the weekend means.
Shilling declared “the highlight is always the hospital visit”, while Pinto was adamant she would be invited back to Perth in what will be her third “magical weekend”.
“I told them after my first Telethon here that I have to come every year, so I was just automatically put down on the list,” she said.
Forrester-Sach admitted he wasn’t aware of Telethon’s profound reach until Pinto clued him in.
“She told me all about it and how it’s a charity raising money, and we get to meet kids, and I’m just so delighted and grateful to be here,” he said.
Leading the next batch of arrivals was The Voice Australia coach Kate Miller-Heidke.
With experience performing for rapturous Eurovision crowds, in her first Telethon appearance the singer is hoping for equally voracious cheers at RAC Arena.
“That’s what I’m picturing, Eurovision,” she beamed.
“I’ve been told that it’s absolutely epic. I still don’t quite have a proper understanding of the scale of it. It’s just massive. But my mate Ronan Keating was here last year, and he said he had a brilliant time.”
Fellow Eurovision alumnus and Telethon veteran Jessica Mauboy could not stop smiling after arriving in Perth, posing for photos with fans and reminiscing on previous visits.
“You always want to give as much as you can for the kids and for the families, and I guess encourage everyone to get involved as much as they can. So I’ll be in the call centre, I’ll be on the panel having a good yarn, whatever I can do,” she said.
Now a mother to 22-month-old Mia, Mauboy’s perspective on the world — and Telethon’s true impact — has shifted.
“You almost become more of a warrior for kids and and for the community, and especially for parents, and a lot are doing it tough. It gets me really emotional, and obviously needing to be here and giving that back as much as I can.”
For Bunbury-raised Nat Barr, who’s no stranger to the weekend of giving, the Sunrise host managed to tick off another first as she fell into the arms of Fat Cat.
“That’s the best welcome to an airport we’ve ever had,” she declared.
“Being greeted by Fat Cat and skipping off the plane, and being greeted by smiling school kids with signs, that just kicks off the weekend. It’s a brilliant weekend. We love coming here, and that just sets the tone.”
Fellow Sunrise personality Karen Ledbury said she loves “the community that is WA” in what she believes his her 12th year of Telethon, with Shirvo hailing the State his “second home” due to the warm embrace he continues to receive.
The former sprinter understands the 26-hour broadcast more closely resembles a marathon, and has learned that “everything you do pumps the energy in” to get through it.
Some of the final big names to arrive were The Morning Show favourites Larry Emdur, Kylie Gillies, and Sally Bowrey, whose antics on-air continued in the air en route to Perth.
Emdur joked he and Kylie “are frightened to sleep because we know the other one will take a photo of us sleeping and post it on Instagram”.
“I know Kylie was desperate for sleep on the plane, but had one eye opened the whole time, going, ‘He’s going to get a photo,” he added.
“It’s actually a true story because I did not sleep. Yeah, I’m a bit tired now,” Gillies teased.
The pair will be called upon for respective lip sync performances, which have long been a weekend highlight, alongside “crazy” Seven colleague Shirvo who Emdur suggested would be going for gold.
“Who would have thought an Olympian would be competitive?” Gillies quipped.
Watch Telethon on 7 and 7pus from 6.45pm Saturday October 17, through to 8.30pm Sunday October 18.