SYDNEY, Australia (CBS) -- Three out of four members of Australian children's band The Wiggles are set to hand over their skivvies to a younger generation.
Australian children's entertainers The Wiggles introduced new replacements in Sydney on Friday, as three of its founding members are to hang up their trademark colored tops, or skivvies, and hand over to a new generation of performers.
The move also makes way for the first female to become a permanent member of the previously all-male band.
Blue Wiggle, Anthony Field, will be the only existing member to remain, the group said on their website.
Lachlan Gillespie, destined to become the next purple Wiggle, was humbled after being selected to join the band.
"It is huge. It's an incredible honor to be even sitting here today. This is four amazing guys and to be asked to be the skivvy next year is quite an incredible experience. We're incredibly excited," he said.
Simon Pryce said he was prepared to be away from his family and friends for months on end in his new role as the red Wiggle.
"Yeah. They're very supportive and they're really happy for me that I'm doing what I love to do, and yeah, they're just very, very supportive," he said.
However, it was Emma Watkins' selection to be the new yellow Wiggle that attracted the most media attention.
"Many people don't think that there's every going to be a girl Wiggle, apart from Dorothy (the dinosaur), so I think it's great," she said.
Watkins didn't want to draw a comparison to Australian singer, Kylie Minogue, who once was described as an honorary pink Wiggle after a performance with the band in 2009.
"You don't have to compare me to her. She's amazing," the new yellow Wiggle said.
The Wiggles were once named by Business Review Weekly (BRW) magazine as being the wealthiest entertainers in Australia, at their peak raking in 45 million U.S. dollars per year.
Since 1991, the group has sold 23 million DVDs and seven million CDs, according to their website.
Watkins said she was a Wiggles fan since she herself was a toddler, adding that she hopes to bring something new to the group.
"I will bring my curly hair and a girlieness and dancing and life, and it's also about continuing The Wiggles music," she said.
Original red Wiggle Murray Cook said the decision to leave the group was difficult.
"It's a really huge decision, but it's really for family reasons for me. My children are growing up, but I want to spend a bit more time with them. We've been on the road for 21 years," he said.
"Now that Murray and Jeff have decided that the end of the year is going to be the end of performing for them, I figured that was the best time for me to also stop performing with The Wiggles, but you know, there's opportunities to stay involved in a creative sense," said yellow Wiggle Greg Page.
Field, who will remain in the group, said that he got a hint from his own family that it was time to introduce a female Wiggle.
"You know, my daughter, I've got two daughters - Maria the other day said: 'Why isn't there a girl Wiggle?' And I think it just happened naturally. I'm really glad that we have got a girl Wiggle," he said.
All of the original members have passed 40 years of age.
"I'm turning 60 next year, so it felt like the right time to be handing over the skivvy. What drove it home was that the other day we were doing a concert and this little girl said: 'You went to school with my Nan'. I had to check to see whether this was true or not and I asked her what her name was and she told me and I said, 'Yes I did,'" purple Wiggle, Jeff Fatt, said.
The Wiggles, who perform live for around a million people every year, announced a final tour starting at the end of the month, including shows in Singapore, Britain, the United States, Canada and New Zealand.