Behind the Scenes at ET Canada with Cheryl Hickey

I first interviewed Cheryl Hickey, host of Entertainment Tonight Canada, three years ago, when we talked about (among many other things) her almost two-year-old son. Now Jaxson will soon be turning five, and has a little sister Nyla, born almost sixteen months ago.

Busy mom Cheryl recently welcomed me behind-the-scenes at ET Canada, and when we first met in person she was undergoing what she calls the “restoration process” with makeup artist Anne, while working on her laptop and talking on the phone. (I told you, busy.)

As we chatted (full interview at the bottom of the post), Cheryl proceeded to do her own hair, which surprisingly is the norm. “I have someone come in twice a week to
give me new ideas but I really like doing my own hair! My mom used to perm and
cut and do all that stuff – she wasn’t a hairdresser but she did it – and I kind
of find it relaxing and I prefer to do it myself. I do have Donato Spa come
in to give me ideas, and they colour my hair. I’m not a real blonde – shocking, right?” she jokes.

While all this was happening, co-host Rick Campanelli popped in
for his own makeup session (he thought he noticed a pimple, and Cheryl quipped that it would be appropriate, since he seems to be reverse aging like Benjamin Button!) The two then took a moment to review Taylor Swift’s new video (Shake It Off) in order to discuss it later on the show, as publicist Natasha looked on in the background.

(Random note: Executive Producer Sholeh Fabbri also stopped by and said hello during our chat, and I had to restrain myself from going into audition mode. You all remember this audition, right?)

Next, it was into Cheryl’s well-stocked wardrobe closet, where she selected her outfit for the day (maybe my jumpsuit inspired her?) As she gave me a mini-tour, she pointed our her family photos and artwork, which I paid more attention to once she clarified that it was actually her artwork – she likes to paint in her spare time. (She gets credit for the painting you can see on the shelf in the photo.)

While Cheryl headed to do some voiceovers for the day’s show, I took a moment to snap a pic of this poster, showing Cheryl and Mary
Hart, the original hosts of their respective ET programs.

I then met Cheryl on set, where all of the TV magic happens. A couple of surprises for me:

• The show isn’t live (I knew that part), but while I envisioned it being taped in sequence, with the hosts watching the clips/interviews, in fact they do their bits in no apparent order, and don’t view the other portions of the show while on set. (I thought I would see the whole content of the show while I was in studio with Cheryl, but only saw the portions where Cheryl and Rick were speaking.)

• Despite the fact that the show is taped early in the day, they prepare for last minute events: Cheryl taped “We begin now with breaking news.” (serious voice) and “We begin now with breaking news!” (happy voice) intros just in case.

A quick beauty tip from the set: Cheryl recommends Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs for covering up any blotches, pale spots or varicose veins before going on-camera. “All the stars use it!” 

She also demonstrated that if you stand on set like you normally would, you look like a slouch. She then modeled the proper “meeting the queen” stance, which I have been trying to imitate from that moment on.

Since returning from mat leave (when Nyla was six months old) Cheryl has been working part-time so she can spend the afternoon with her little ones, so by 1:00 she was wrapping up and ready to head home and put her mommy hat back on.

You all know how much I love my behind-the-scenes experiences, and I had lots of fun on the set of ET Canada…and learned a ton about how the show is put together!

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Now, as promised, here’s my one-on-one with Cheryl!

I’m going to start off with the most
burning question from my readers: what are your beauty secrets?

Well, I think it all begins with
water, water, water. Then good skin care: washing, exfoliation. I had a lot of
pregnancy mask after my son and then a bit after my daughter, so I was going
for some photofacials and things like that and also I use sunscreen every day.
I did some damage when I was 16 like we all do but now I’m good about
wearing sunscreen. A good serum is always important. I love Elizabeth Grant and
their Vitamin C creams. I also love SkinCeuticals. I use Jane Iredale every
day for skin care and makeup because it’s all natural and it lets your skin
breathe. There are a few things I use and I dance between them because as you
know if you just use one your skin gets used to it, so I go between Elizabeth
Grant, SkinCeuticals and Jane Iredale.

Any opinions on the cosmetic surgery
debate? 

I think every woman should do what they
need to do for their bodies. I am not going to stand up on a pedestal and say “you
can’t do this, you should do this”. I think childbirth does amazing things to
the body and what a woman chooses to do afterwards is her decision. It’s her
body. In terms  of being a mom, I think
you do what you need to do.

Do you feel a pressure in the TV
business to keep looking young? Is that something that stresses you as a TV
personality?

No, it doesn’t stress me. Maybe it
would if I didn’t have the perspective I do, with someone in our family
fighting a degenerative disease. My mom has MS and I watch what happens with
her and I think we’re lucky to get to age. Is there a little more spotlight on
me in television? Absolutely. I gained 70 pounds on the show and I lost 70
pounds on the show…twice! There were days when I felt extremely
self-conscious and vulnerable but that’s the beauty of being a woman – the gift
and the curse. I’ve had days where I’ve thought “Oh, I have all these blotches
and I’m sticking out everywhere!”, but I can’t sweat the small stuff when I
watch what’s happening to some other people I know. Plus I have the magician
here {gestures towards makeup artist Anne} so really I’ve got a leg up over
what most women get! I’ve got great lighting, excellent cameramen and an
amazing makeup artist so it’s really nothing to do with me!

What do you do to keep fit and in stay
in shape?

I have two kids! I have a toddler
and a four-year-old with more energy than you can imagine so right now my
physical activity revolves around theirs, which is very physical! When that
subsides a bit I will get back into Pilates and the things that I like to do
but that’s my fitness right now.

So your son is heading into year 2
of kindergarten?

Yes. Full-time this year, but we
made the controversial decision to send him part-time last year {Ontario has a
new full day, every day Early Learning Kindergarten Program}. It was not a
popular decision but it was the decision we made as a family. When he started
school he was three. I understand what the government is doing and they want to
help parents but my guy was not ready to do his own shoes and zipper and be
responsible for eating and drinking on his own. He was three and that was still
a mommy’s job, so we made the decision that he would be part-time and it was a
great experience for him. He loved it.

Is back-to-school a big deal at your
house?

Yes, I finished all his back-to-school
shopping last week. He’s picked out his Transformers backpack and lunchbox and
thermos so everything’s organized and ready to go!

Any tips for making the school day run smoothly?

Schedule. When kids are in school –
and I’m not on a soapbox because I’ve just had a JK-er, what do I know? – but what
works for our family is a consistent bedtime, good nutrition, no sugar before
bed, and a positive attitude about a school year. That really helps. If I’m
excited about it, he’s excited about it. Being organized is important, getting
your back-to-school shopping done before everything’s picked over. Letting them
make choices too. He picked out his backpack and everything to get excited and
have some ownership.

You had a little piece in Today’s
Parent recently {she and co-host Rick took on opposite viewpoints of trampolines for their “Debate” feature}. How did that come about?

Our publicist, Natasha, handles
these sorts of things and she came to us with this idea. Rick and I have fun
debating things – from Taylor Swift and her latest song to parenting. We both
have different ideas and different perspectives, plus he’s a dad and I’m a mom,
and our kids are different ages but this opportunity came up and we went for
it.

Is writing something you’d like to
do more of?

Well, I’d like to but my plate is
pretty darn full! {At this point Cheryl shared a *big* secret project she’s been
working on that I can’t tell you about for another few weeks…but I promise I
will then!}

You’re active on social media, and I’m curious how you handle the negativity that comes your way?

I read it, I understand it, I
respond to the ones I need to and I move on. Really I can count on my hand the
number of negative comments I’ve received so I guess I’m lucky. There was one
woman who didn’t like my outfit for a whole week and thought I had a bad choice
of wardrobe and I respect that. Sometimes I hit it and sometimes I miss it, and
that’s on me.

Most stations show ET and ET Canada
back-to-back. The news is the news, so how do you ensure that the content isn’t
going to be repetitive for viewers?

We start the day with our morning
meeting at 9:00 where we run down the entire list of options for the day , and
they have a discussion with everybody about what else ET is having, so there
are times we overlap, but the conscious effort is to make sure we put our touch
and Canadian spin on it, whether we take the story further with an expert or
with someone else who can speak to it.

What about when a big story breaks, like Robin Williams’ suicide?

The scheduled lineup has to change
for sure. With that particular example, we were already packaged and the show
was in bed when we got the news, so for the next day everyone started to make
phone calls and make sure we had our experts ready and everyone goes to the
wall and gets it done.

I’m not expecting you to name any
names, but can you give any examples of bad celebrity behaviour you’ve seen at
junkets or in interviews?

I always find it fascinating why
people want to know the bad stuff…but I guess I understand! I’ve never had a
bad celebrity. When I do an interview, it’s agreed upon. They’re there to
promote a movie and I’m there to do my job so they would be shooting themselves
in the foot if they decide not to play ball, so for the most part people are
professional.

Who’s still on your list that you’d
like to interview?

I really want to interview Kate
Hudson and her mom at the same time. I love what Goldie Hawn is doing with
mindful parenting and teaching mindfulness. I think it’s so important in this society
where we’re so plugged in with Twitter and Instagram and Facebook, it’s
reminding people how to communicate again and giving parents tools on how to
engage their kids in this era. I love what she’s doing, and I just love her
positive, free-spirit attitude. I’d love to sit down with the both of them.

I was also a huge New Kids on the
Block fan – still am – and every time there’s an opportunity to interview them
I shy away from it because I don’t want to ruin my “thing”. I was in love with
Joey McIntyre. Everyone had someone. So I haven’t done that yet, and I’m hoping
this year for our 10th anniversary I’ll be able to interview them. I’ll
take my sister and my best friend and turn it into a thing!

I’d love to interview Michelle Obama
too because I find her really interesting. Betty White. I love her! Melissa
McCarthy is my funny lady, who makes me ugly laugh.

As hosts, do you argue over who gets
what interview?

No, because we don’t get to decide! They know us by now, and what makes us tick, and who we’ll gel
with so they make those decisions. It’s also based on what we have going on with our
lives. The show is very family-oriented.

Do you have to travel much for ET Canada?

I used to travel a lot, but now I’m
mostly in studio. I travel when they have a big interview and they want me to
go. When I was pregnant I wasn’t travelling much because I was large!

You have TIFF coming up again very
soon. Does it ever get old, covering the Festival year after year?

No, because it’s always different.
Who’s going to be here, how we cover it, the interviews, the movies. It’s all
different. The one thing that remains the same is the fans, because they’re
such educated movie-goers in Toronto. They really know film, and I think the
stars know that, because they say it in interviews. It’s exciting, and a time
to get extra-glammed up and interview some exciting people. I’m excited to
maybe interview Jason Bateman this year. Love him!

Thanks, Cheryl! You can find Cheryl on Twitter, and of course catch the entire ET Canada gang weeknights on Global. They’ll be celebrating Season 10 beginning September 2!