Onrait, O’Toole return to TSN after Fox show cancellation
TORONTO — When Jay Onrait and Dan O’Toole return to Toronto this summer, they might look a little different from when they left to join Fox Sports One in Los Angeles four years ago. But their new show on TSN — the network they starred on for 10 years — will look very much the same as Canadian fans remember.
“We’ve definitely lost weight, I can tell you that. We’ve eaten a lot healthier here, more acai bowls than before,” Onrait joked in a telephone interview from his Santa Monica, Calif., home.
“But honestly we really enjoyed the experience (in Los Angeles). I remember when my wife and I were talking about coming down here, we were debating whether we should do it and we said we didn’t want to be 80 years old and look back and say ‘we could have gone to L.A. for four years and we didn’t, what the hell were we thinking?’
“So it’s good to embrace new things, try new things but it’s also good to come back to the thing you love the most.”
TSN announced Wednesday that the duo will host a new version of SportsCentre, “SC With Jay And Dan,” that will air weeknights at 9 p.m. PST starting in September and loop the following morning. Their new contract begins in July.
The announcement that the two were returning to TSN came a week after FS1 cancelled their “Fox Sports Live” show and chose not to renew their contracts.
Onrait said the show’s cancellation was expected, especially after a shift in management philosophy at FS1 two years ago began striving for more of a “debate-style” show than what the Canadian pair had been used to.