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PERTH – Millionaire yellow Wiggle Greg Page, part of Australia's top earning entertainers The Wiggles, has quit because of a chronic fainting illness.
Page, in a video message played before a press conference by the group in Perth, says he's suffering from a chronic condition called orthostatic intolerance, which means when he stands up his heart doesn't pump enough blood around his body.
"It's not a life threatening condition by any means, but it is one that's going to be with me for the rest of my life," Page, 34, said.
"It means I'll no longer be able to sing and dance the way that I want to and as a result I've decided to stop performing with The Wiggles."
Page said his yellow skivvy would now be worn permanently by his long-time understudy Sam Moran.
"I'll miss being a part of The Wiggles very much but this is the right decision because it will allow me to focus on managing my health," said Page.
The remaining members of the group, Jeff Fatt, Anthony Field and Murray Cook, today told journalists of Page's decision to quit and said it was an emotional time.
"It's very surreal that Greg's not going to be with us, very sad," said Field.
"The thing about The Wiggles is we love doing it. I know Greg loved doing the shows, it's just that he can't physically do it any more.
"We love touring, meeting all the families, the children.
"Myself, Murray and Jeff. We actually said to each other, 'do you want to keep going'? and we said 'yes, we'd love to keep going'."
Page's illness became public following a double hernia operation in December last year, and Moran has performed in his place for an estimated 150 shows.
He has been with The Wiggles as a dancer, performer and understudy for 12 years.
For months Page's condition was a mystery.
Page said earlier this month doctors were trying to find the cause of his fainting bouts, which were becoming more frequent.
Today's announcement came as The Wiggles, Australia's highest-earning entertainers for the last two years, launched a new national tour in Perth.
The Wiggles formed 15 years ago after Field, Cook and Page met while studying early childhood education at Sydney's Macquarie University.
They enlisted Fatt, who played with Field in popular 1980s group The Cockroaches, and The Wiggles were born.
The Sydney-based group has won five Aria Awards and three APRA songwriter awards and sold in excess of 17 million DVD/videos and five million CD/cassettes worldwide.
They have expanded their multimillion-dollar empire by establishing spin-off Wiggles groups in Taiwan and Latin America.
- AAP
