  Brad Smith, a Hudson, Que., native and CFL wide receiver will be the first Canadian Bachelor.
|
Every single one of us is many different people.
There's the person we are at home. The person we are at work. The person we are with our friends. And perhaps many more, depending on how interesting our lives are.
Taking that into account, the Canadian Football League buddies of ex-player Brad Smith -- the first ever bachelor on The Bachelor Canada -- are in for quite a surprise.
"Oh yeah, I'm a complete cheeseball around women," said Smith, who will put his love on the line when The Bachelor Canada debuts Wednesday, Oct. 3 on Citytv.
"Around guys, I'm a real big guy's guy. But when I do open up, I'm not afraid to be open with what I'm feeling, or say what I'm feeling, regardless of whether I come off a bit cheesy."
We assume Smith, who played in the CFL from 2007 to 2011 and whose dad is former CFL player and commissioner Larry Smith, has taken plenty of ribbing from his pigskin chums already.
"It's funny, I remember seeing an interview about two days after I was announced, and they were interviewing Ricky Ray and Jason Barnes, two of my teammates when we were in Edmonton," Smith recalled. "They were laughing, but Jason Barnes said, 'He's perfect for it,' and Ricky Ray said, 'I couldn't imagine anybody else doing it.'
"It might be a little different for them watching. Just because, my best friends describe me as a guy who, a lot of people know me, but a lot of people don't know me. I'm open and I'm honest, but about who and what I hold close to my heart, I really don't share that.
"So uniquely when they watch the show, with me around girls as far as relationships go, it's going to be a lot different for the football guys."
The American versions of The Bachelor and The Bachelorette are guilty (or non-guilty) pleasures for many millions on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border. In fact, it was someone else's devotion to those shows -- with a football connection, no less -- that first introduced Smith to the format.
"A teammate of mine in Toronto, and also in Edmonton, was Tyler Scott," Smith recalled. "I lived with Tyler forever, and his fiancee would come over every Monday and make us watch The Bachelor and The Bachelorette.
"She's a little bit of a verbose person, and by verbose I mean she speaks very loudly. So after the announcement, I got on Skype with Tyler and I said, 'What did your fiancee say when she found out I was The Bachelor?'
"And Tyler said, 'She lost her s---.' "
Brad Smith isn't looking to lose his s---, or anything else, on The Bachelor Canada. He's looking to find something. Specifically, the girl of his dreams.
"I honestly want to try this," Smith said. "If I do find her, I'm going to push as hard as I can to go for this."
And if it doesn't work out, he can always ask to be traded.
bill.harris@sunmedia.ca
More blog postings
