Celebrity Fitzness Report: Jeff Fatt of The Wiggles

Curious to know how celebrities squeeze fitness into their daily lives? Want to know the secrets of the stars? Bi-weekly our That's Fit fitness expert Fitz sits down with the celebs we want to know more about, and digs out their great and not-so-great methods to staying healthy.

Jeff Fatt is part of the Australian children's musical group The Wiggles. Just in case your've never heard of The Wiggles...they're the kiddie equivilent of The Beatles. They've sold a bazillion CD's and DVD's, and also have sold out yearly tours around the world. Their hit TV show appears daily on Playhouse Disney, and they're probably the healthiest thing Disney has going for them. The Wiggles sing about fruit salad, not cookies. They're shows and songs get kids up to move like a Crunch workout tape makes their Mom. Jeff is the Purple Wiggle and his silly shtick is that he loves to sleep. The kids go bonkers for it, especially mine. "Wake up Jeff!" is a classic of tomorrow.

Fitz: Tell me about your fitness routine.

Jeff: I don't really have any fitness routine, but would consider the concerts we do to be a routine in themselves. Apart from that, I really enjoy riding around on a bicycle. Not for the purpose of trying to get fitter, but just for the enjoyment of it. I will nearly always ride down to my local area to do the grocery shopping or for a meal. I also enjoy swimming.

Fitz: What's on your MP3 player?

Jeff: My iPod has just about my whole music collection. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Booker T, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Ray Charles, Beach Boys, BB King, Jazz/Blues albums featuring the Hammond Organ and lots of stuff from the 60's. I'm not up with most of today's contemporary pop music.

Fitz: Since you're the Wiggle who loves to sleep, I have to ask. How much do you get per night? Are you really a napper?

Jeff: I'm a very light sleeper, particularly on the tour bus. I usually get 6-7 hours per night. At my age, it's not that easy to sleep much more than this, so therefore I am a day napper. This really suits my job!

Fitz: Do you have a fall-back healthy meal? Something you eat when trying to progress physically?

Jeff: I don't have a fall back healthy meal, because I'm generally a healthy eater.

Fitz: What's your favorite sin food?

Jeff: It used to be Krispy Kreme donuts, but now I don't even touch them (they're too evil)! I can't get over the amount of saturated fats and high fructose corn syrup (well that's what I believe is in them). Some of my favorite sin foods would be Pavlova (an Aussie desert), kettle chips and Lindy's cheesecake in NYC. In very small amounts of course!

Fitz: Your shows are so high energy! How do you get up for it, when you're not in the mood?

Jeff: You can usually get the extra push from the audience. Everyone is just so vibed that you can't help but be in the mood.

Fitz: How many push-ups can you do?

Jeff: I haven't really tried....hang on, I'll do it now......I just did 20!

Fitz: Do you lose weight on tour?

Jeff: I'm luck that my weight usually stays the same.

Fitz: Who inspires you to be fit?

Jeff: There isn't really anyone in particular who inspires me to be fit. The feeling of being fit and healthy is enough.

Fitz: Which one of you guys would win in a boxing match?

Jeff: No one would win. We're Wigglers not fighters.

Fitz: What's your vacation spot? Do you workout on vacation?

Jeff: My favorite spot is Ballina. It's a small coastal town in Northern NSW Australia. When I was growing up, this was where my family would go at Christmas time, so it holds lots of memories. I don't work out on vacation.

Fitz: Tell us about your surfing. I hear you're great!

Jeff: I have always love the water and have surfed most of my life. I started by body surfing, and then progressed to a surf float and then to a surfboard, which I use now. Living in manly Australia make it easy for me to go for a surf...three minutes away!

Fitz: What do you feel about the massive amount of junk food marketed to children?

Jeff: It's really sad. I think a lot of the responsibility lies with the parents in deciding what their children eat. More needs to be done with food education in schools and food education of adults. The instant gratification that junk food provides is a difficult thing to battle.

Fitz: Out of all your fan mail. How much is from kids, and how much is from Moms?

Jeff: The fan mail is usually from Moms writing on behalf of their children.

Fitz: What's the strangest experience you've ever had with a fan?

Jeff: I can't recall a strange experience, but a family once brought me some Krispy Kreme donuts. You're probably thinking, "yeah, big deal"! We were doing a concert tour of England at the time and Krispy Kreme wasn't even available there then. It turned out that the mother was an American flight attendant and just flew over with the family for the weekend....with donuts in hand! It really was a pleasant surprise at the time.