SUDBURY, Ont. — Gail Prosser has always been handy, but now she’s teaching Canada’s biggest bunglers how to be as well.
The fourth season of Canada’s Worst Handyman features Prosser, a carpenter, as one of its two experts.
“It was amazing, so much fun. Really exciting,” Prosser said about her TV debut.
Prosser got the job after a lengthy audition process that involved her critiquing past efforts of contestants and then building a wall herself as a project, explaining step by step how it’s done.
All participants on the show, which begins airing May 4 on the Discovery Network, are nominated by their friends or spouses. These friends and family do so out of fear that they are destroying their homes through their efforts.
“Then they come to the location centre where there are two experts, myself and another guy, a contractor named Jeff. They each get a room they have to renovate. Jeff and I teach them how to do a specific task,” she said.
The participants are then sent to their rooms to carry out the tasks.
“At the end of the episode, we critique their work, but not so nicely,” she added.
Prosser has a sarcastic streak that the creators of the show urged her to let loose.
At the end of each of the episodes, one person is awarded the title worst handyman for that segment and then, at the end of the seven-episode series, one person gets the overall title.
And yes, they really are that bad. They’re not faking their fingers-are-all-thumbs approach to building for the cameras.
“I was a big fan of the show. When you watch the show, you’re like, ‘Come on. It’s not really happening. It must be staged.’ But they really are that bad,” Prosser said.
“After you explain to them how to do something, two minutes later it’s completely backwards. . . .”
Contestants do not win cash but rather gain knowledge over the course of the show. Of course, they also have the glory of being on TV.
Canada’s Worst Driver and Canada’s Worst Handyman are both produced by the same company for the Discovery channel.