If you’ve tuned into the newest season of Big Brother Canada since it premiered on March 2, you’ve seen Arisa Cox working her magic as the host of the reality show. Cox has been there from the start, 10 years ago, when she began as the host, and has since added executive producer to her title.
But Cox says the path to where she is now was anything but linear.
“I wish I could say I planned every step of the way – but I didn’t!” she says. “As a kid I wanted to be a fashion designer and [U.S. fashion journalist] André Leon Talley’s bestie, obviously.”
As a student in the Claude Watson Arts program at Earl Haig Secondary School since Grade 4, Cox says she was a jack of all trades, enjoying making art, singing, dancing and performing. “I had a lot of friends that were working actors. I was not! It wasn’t until later in life I began to understand how my collection of talents, interests and knowledge was a strength,” she says.
After high school, Cox entered journalism school at Carleton University. It was there that she fell in love with TV journalism.
Cox’s career after that became a who’s who of Canadian television’s iconic moments: she ended up a cast member on Canada’s first big reality show U8TV: The Lofters, a host on E! (Canada), an on-air CTV Ottawa reporter and even an actor in Disney’s Camp Rock.
Then, in 2013, she was named the host of Big Brother Canada ahead of its inaugural season, 13 years after the U.S. original franchise debuted.
“Sometimes, if you surrender to enjoying the moment you’re in — really staying present — the future opens up in ways you couldn’t have predicted,” Cox says of the opportunity.
That has been true for her role on Big Brother Canada, especially since her new position as executive producer on the show.
“That evolution is the highlight of my career. Hosting the show while also having a big hand in casting and editorial decisions has felt so right,” she says.
Cox has been outspoken about increasing diversity on the show, and her influence has clearly made an impact. This season features 10 of 16 house members who are people of colour, including Jay Northcott of Toronto. (Last season, Toronto’s Tychon Carter-Newman made history as the first Black winner of the show.)
“The cast this season is incredible and has provided a lot of firsts,” Cox says. “That includes our first Acadian house guest and our first doctor — our first Afro-Indigenous doctor at that! The range of backgrounds is making for really rich stories.”
Cox’s secret to making this job work?
“A deep sense of curiosity and wonder at the human spirit — If you have that, journalism and its fun little sister reality TV is probably for you.”