TV

Not A Day Goes By That I Don’t Think About Jup Jup, The Incredibly Cursed Puppet From ‘Hi-5’

His sole purpose in life was to gaslight Kathleen into thinking he didn't exist.

by Michelle Rennex  27 August 2020
jup jup hi-5

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If you were a kid who grew up in the early 2000s, you’ll likely remember the frustration of yelling at your TV screen whenever you watched Hi-5. 

While the cast of Kathleen, Kellie, Tim, Charli and Nathan were great and basically made our childhoods, the same can’t be said for their little puppet sidekicks who were, frankly, horrifying.

In particular, you’ll remember shouting at Kathleen — arguably the shows greatest cast member — to turn around whenever the demonic puppet, Jup Jup, was on screen.

For those who have blocked the horrific creature from memory, Jup Jup was a five-legged purple and green alien, who would live in Kathleen’s walls for the sole purpose of gaslighting her into thinking he wasn’t there.

Whenever Kathleen walked around her magical area that had a bunch of cupboards which seemed to hold everything imaginable, Jup Jup would spend the entire time terrorising her. The poor woman couldn’t do anything in her space without the puppet stealing or destroying all her things the second she turned her back.

I mean, how can anyone forget the time when Kathleen tried to make cookies, and Jup Jup literally found a way to suddenly source some food colouring to dye the icing pink right under her nose?! Then while she mixed her icing together, he somehow managed to steal the raisins right in front of her?!

Do you know how frustrating it is to be a child who can clearly see and hear a giant grape-coloured puppet stealing everything from your favourite Hi-5 star? Like Kathleen, ma’am PLEASE open your eyes. You have my 5-year-old blood pressure rising.

But honestly, the joke was on us because apparently Kathleen was smarter than we all gave her credit for. Apparently Kathleen knew that the demonic creature lived in her walls, but was content with just never meeting the gaslighting alien.

However, one character on the show who did manage to meet Jup Jup and actually talk to him was the other creepy puppet, Chatterbox.

Chatterbox, or Chats as she was otherwise known, was Kellie’s right-hand woman and an icon. She was some sort of stylish worm creature, who lived in a leopard print box full of random items that had a hot-pink fur trim.

Looking back, Chats also had braids with beads on the ends so I’m not sure if she we should be stanning her in 2020. But hey, at least she actually spoke to Kellie and didn’t just torment her every damn episode.

Anyway, we simply must burn Jup Jup. I know that he is not reason that Kathleen left Hi-5 in 2006, but in my heart he is.