Laura Power
Northern News Services
Published Friday, November 23, 2007

YELLOWKNIFE - Fans of the Discovery Channel may be familiar with the show Canada's Worst Handyman.

Yellowknife residents are being given the opportunity to star on the show's third season, which will be aired this spring.

Terry Cress was voted the country's most inept do-it-yourselfer last season on Canada's Worst Handyman. The show is seeking nominees in Yellowknife for the upcoming season. - photo courtesy of Discovery Channel

Each season, the show rounds up five people from around the country who have been nominated by a friend or partner as the country's worst handyman or handywoman. The five people, plus the nominators, are flown somewhere to work on renovations.

"We've never had anyone from Northern Canada at all on the show," said Meredith Veats, associate producer of the show. "To truly represent the country, we thought that we should definitely include Yellowknife as part of our search."

Veats plans to travel to the NWT in early December, but said that all depends on if there are enough nominations from residents.

"The more nominations we have from Yellowknife, the longer we'll be there," she said. "At this point we're really encouraging residents to make a nomination for worst handyperson."

While in town, representatives from the show will visit nominees in their homes for interviews and to take a look at some household disasters.

"We actually go out to the bad handyperson's house so we can have a look at the evidence for ourselves," said Veats.

This year, the show will also seek out unhandy folks in Ontario, Nova Scotia, British Columbia and Alberta. The contestants will be flown to Ontario, where they will work on a house in January. About seven shows will be filmed for the season, with different projects being tackled in each episode.

"At the end of these seven shows, one person will be given the dubious title of Canada's worst handyman," said Veats.

But it's not just a show about making fun of the talentless. She said the show is "all about rehabilitating the nation's worst handypeople."

While they take care of the household projects, the participants work closely with some of the country's best, giving them an opportunity to learn how work is done and develop new skills.

Terry Cress of Sault Ste. Marie took the title in last year's show after his wife nominated him.

"I wasn't too good at building," said Cress. "Me and wood don't get along."

Cress worked on a shed for the show last season. When it came down to the dimensions of his project, he got it all wrong.

"They voted me the worst because my shed wouldn't fit through the opening where it was supposed to be," he said.

Though Cress said he had a lot of fun, he denies actually learning anything.

Veats said he took the title well.

"It is a highly entertaining show and a highly educational show, because we also talk about the how to and the why," she said. "It's also really entertaining to see people who may be going through the same thing as you at home."

Yellowknife residents who wish to nominate someone for this season should do so quickly by e-mailing handyman@propertelevision.com