Now’s your chance to be a reality star
Contractor Mike Holmes is hosting a new series, with his two children.
If you’re looking to live in a “house” under constant surveillance with a group of strangers, or if you’re looking to change someone else’s life with a home renovation, two Canadian TV shows are looking for you.
Perennial fan favourite Big Brother Canada is casting for its eighth season, to air on Global TV in 2020. Applicants must be 19 or older by Feb.1, 2020; Canadian citizens or permanent residents; and in excellent physical and mental health. Beyond that, producers are also looking for candidates with big personalities and strong opinions.
The reality series sequesters strangers in a “house” outfitted wall to wall with cameras and microphones to compete for a cash prize. Go to bigbrothercanada.ca to apply.
New series Holmes Family Rescue has a more altruistic mission. Contractor Mike Holmes, and his children, Mike Jr. and Sherry, aim to use home renovation to transform lives. To that end, the series is seeking Canadians, particularly young people, to nominate individuals, groups or organizations in need of “a life-altering renovation.”
Production is to begin in October with a summer 2020 debut.
See ctv.ca/mikeholmescasting for information.
The Toronto-raised actorsinger recently posted on his Instagram account that he slipped on the steps of his tour bus while travelling to Denmark and seriously injured a rib.
He said the injury made “it difficult to breathe and impossible to sing,” forcing him to cancel the last three shows of the tour.
Sutherland added he has “every intention of making up these shows … in September/ October” and apologized for any inconvenience he may have caused to fans who had bought tickets.
The 24 and Designated Survivor star was touring for his country-rock sophomore album, Reckless & Me. Holmes Family Rescue, At least eight pop stars from mainland China and one each from Taiwan and Hong Kong are publicly stating their support for Beijing’s one-China policy, eliciting a mixture of disappointment and understanding from fans. Lay Zhang, Jackson Wang, Lai Kuan-lin and Victoria Song were among the K-pop singers who recently uploaded a Chinese flag and declared themselves as “one of 1.4 billion guardians of the Chinese flag” on their official Weibo social media accounts. Wang is from Hong Kong and Lai is from Taiwan.
Some see the public pronouncements as the latest examples of how celebrities and companies feel pressured to toe the line politically in the important Chinese market. Yet they also coincide with a surge in patriotism among young Chinese raised on pro-Communist Party messaging.
Public support for Beijing hasn’t been limited to pop stars.
Liu Yifei, the Chinese-born star of Disney’s upcoming liveaction version of Mulan, weighed in on the situation in Hong Kong, where protesters have accused police of abuses.
“I support the Hong Kong police,” Liu, a naturalized U.S. citizen, wrote on her Weibo account. “You can all attack me now. What a shame for Hong Kong.”
Carrie Underwood, who has hosted the Country Music Association Awards since 2008 with Brad Paisley, is losing her partner-in-crime. But she won’t be on her own: The CMAs announced Monday that “special guest hosts” Dolly Parton and Reba McEntire will join Underwood during the Nov. 13 event. The organization says the show will celebrate “legendary women in Country Music throughout the ceremony.”
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson announced his wedding to his longtime girlfriend on Instagram. A photo of the star and Lauren Hashian was posted on the social media site. Both were wearing white, and they were standing overlooking the ocean. The post said the date of their apparent nuptials was Sunday, in Hawaii.