How I Went From Toilet Trapped To Meeting An Asian Australian Icon — A Story Of Triumph And Healing My Inner Child

The idea of having to make a home in a bathroom was not yummy yummy.

There was no way out. I rapped my fist against the inside of the bathroom door and attempted to undo the lock once more. Nothing. I was trapped.

Supplied/Angeline Barion

This was not a prank — although it seriously felt like one — all it needed was Scotty and the Ninjas to jump out of the sanitary bin. But the Prank Patrol never came. It wasn't a bit, nor a pre-scheduled kerfuffle that I had prepared for. It was a (thankfully, unsmelly) bathroom with a broken lock. So, I did what any 21st century, Gen Z human would do — I filmed it between frantic texts to my colleagues, of course.

For the next 33 minutes, I was trapped in the 13th floor bathroom — the one my workmates didn't seem to know about — wondering if I would live out my days in this stall.

Supplied/Angeline Barion

This is the part in the movie where the narrator pauses the frame and says, "But everything in fact, was not fine."

Well, I had just 30 minutes before I needed to be on the red carpet with The OG Wiggles. I was all set to interview them about their new documentary — Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles... if I could make it out of the bathroom, that is. Oh, and did I mention that it was my first red carpet? This was not my day.

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My Dorothy-the-Dinosaur-obsessed, inner child needed this, and I wasn't going to let her down. With the limited phone reception I had, I managed to tell my co-workers where I was and signal for help.

Supplied/Angeline Barion

Immediately, they were on the case.

Finally, at 4:21pm, I was saved. First, there was loud bang at the door. I received a text message that said "ANGELINE. STAND BACK". Six thundering thumps later, the door handle fell to the tiles, and I was free. After 33 long minutes, I had been released from my bathroom prison. All I could do was laugh.

Supplied/Angeline Barion, Supplied/Bernice Corral

I ran to the carpet in a flurry, thanking my lucky stars that it was just up the road. With my moral support, Bernice, by my side, we took our position in the media line. Soon, we heard a familiar voice. Then, we saw them...

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Our Wiggles. The ones we watched, sung with, and — in Jeff the Purple Wiggle's case — saw glimpses of ourselves in. There they were, right in front of us.

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For many Asian Australian kids like Bernice and myself, Jeff Fatt was the first, truly positive representation we saw on a mainstream level.

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Growing up in the '90s and early 2000s, Fatt and Hi-5's Kathleen de leon Jones were some of the only Asian Australians we saw, which made their impact on us that much more special.

We were drawn to Fatt's purple skivvy (turtleneck) and addicted to screaming, "Wake Up Jeff!", when we saw him fall asleep on our screens. For us, he felt like comfort. Like safety. Like an authority to take up space.

With great power comes great responsibility, and as his Wiggly colleagues note in the documentary the courage to take a chance. Now, we had the chance to talk to Fatt about his impact.

We asked Fatt if being a pioneer for Asian Australian representation posed any pressures for him at the time. Was it something he thought about? Did he know how impactful he was for kids like us? Fatt said that at the time, representation wasn't something he really considered, but hindsight has since helped him realise its importance.

@buzzfeedoz / Via instagram.com

"We were just mates at the start and I would never really analyse that whole thing," Fatt said. "As time went on, I was getting relatives sorta like, saying how great it is that I'm doing what I do."

Anthony Field, aka the Blue Wiggle, was delighted to talk about the importance of representation in The Wiggles. In fact, it's a topic he speaks passionately about in Hot Potato. On the red carpet, Field showered his long time friend with praise.

@buzzfeedoz / Via instagram.com

"I remember years and years ago, when Jeff was in The Wiggles, I went to a Randwick chicken shop," Field told BuzzFeed Australia. "The man behind the counter was Chinese Australian and he said to me, 'Will you please tell Jeff, it means so much to us that he's on the television'."

In a sit down interview with BuzzFeed Australia, Field spoke proudly about his decision to introduce a more diverse cast of individuals from First Nations, Ethopian and Filipino backgrounds to The Wiggles.

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"That's the best thing I've done in the past 10 years," he said. "They represent our audience."

Sitting in the presence of these legends, I basked in their impact and recalled happier childhood days spent singing "Rock-a-bye Your Bear".

Supplied/Angeline Barion

It was in that moment that I could hear the little voice of my younger self — the one who danced around with her Dorothy the Dinosaur hat attached to her head — say, "Thank the universe, you got out of that toilet."

Hot Potato: The Story of the Wiggles tells the story of fame, friendship and change that the popular children's entertainment group faced through their careers. You can catch the premiere of the documentary on Tuesday, October 24 — only on Prime Video.

Share your favourite Wiggles moment in the comments below!