Last week marked the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s first official trip to Canada, and as luck would have it they visited Ottawa, where I live! Of course the city was electric with excitement over news of the visit, and as William and Kate touched down in Ottawa, crowds had gathered by the thousands to greet them. Unfortunately, that was also the last day of school for my kids, so I chose to stay home and read all about the trip instead of dragging my children out amongst the masses to catch a glimpse.
So I’m at home reading my twitter feed when I.stop.dead.in.my.tracks. Rosey Edeh is in Ottawa. Rosey Edeh, who is a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight Canada Is. In. Ottawa!! I have been following Rosey on Twitter for a long time and luckily for me she follows me back, so as soon as I realize Entertainment Tonight Canada would be following the Royal Tour, I decide that I need to take a chance here. So I DM Rosey on twitter (who for the record I don’t know, but who always replies any time I tweet her) and say this:
"I know you're probably super busy while you're here but if you have a spare moment would love to meet you & maybe intvw you for my YMC Blog (this is me giving her an out in case she thinks I’m a crazy stalker)"
And this is what she replies:
"Love to! Just finished. Catching flight at 7p. At Rideau hall right now.:)"
What!? Whoa!? She said she’d love to!!! At this point I’m running around my house trying to throw something on that will look relatively decent to meet Rosey, when I realize that maybe she was saying she would love to but she has to catch a flight so that’s too bad you crazy stalker. So I dm this:
"I can meet you anywhere if you're free - I'm only about 20 mins from downtown:) (Please note I think I’m further than 20 minutes from downtown but this is an opportunity I’m not prepared to lose so speeding will be a factor here)"
Rosey replies:
"Chateau Laurier. I'll be there in 30 min in lobby for about 30min. Good?"
Please note at this point I am a certifiable giddy, whirling dervish, running around my house trying to transform out of the mom who is dealing with 4 kids who are now done school for the summer, to someone who looks presentable enough to interview one of the stars of the biggest entertainment news show on television. No pressure.
So what do I respond –
"absolutely see you there! (I’m not crazy – you take these opportunities where you can get them!)"
So I run downstairs and thankfully my husband has come home from work early because it is the last day of school and I run past him to tell him where I’m going and he tells me that I’ll never make it in time and I just tell him of course I will you’re crazy and I’m off! So I get about half way there (with only minimal speeding I might add) when I come to a complete stop. On the highway. Damn. I hate it when he's right. I'm feeling a little defeated now, so I DM Rosey again (my car was at a complete stop ok):
"currently in 'royal traffic' and at least 15mins out so if you have to leave I understand (see – me giving her another out in case she’s convinced I’m a stalker but she’s just too nice to say so)"
Her response:
"Not there yet either! Waiting for a cab. Be at least another 15 min! Batt dying. see you soon!"
Well alright! I’m back to giddy and patiently make my way through all the royal traffic. I finally arrive and park downtown and run to The Chateau Laurier to see Rosey waiting out front for her cab and she greets me with a big smile and is so gorgeous and I know she has to leave but she really wants me to get my interview so she suggests we go inside so that we can chat where it’s not too loud.
We sit and I ask her about how long she’s been with Entertainment Tonight Canada, and she tells me she’s been with it since the very first show in 2005 and that it is in fact her dream job (it would be my dream job too!) When she first started with the show, she had a 10-year old, but because this was her passion and she was so into pop culture and entertainment she made it work. Rosey’s daughter Micha is now 16 and even helps Rosey prepare for her interviews! She told me that when she needs to know about what’s really new on the scene, she goes right to Micha, because Micha always knows! In fact, Micha will be on the red carpet at The Teen Choice Awards with Rosey as they co-report for ET Canada! At this point I give Rosey the ‘Coolest Mom of the Year’ award because, well, that’s just super cool! Also, I now wish I were Rosey’s daughter
Rosey, a former Olympic track star has always been a fan of pop culture and movies and entertainment. When she was younger she said “I did the Whoopi Goldberg thing where I put the towel on my head and would go in the mirror with the microphone and I would talk and have so much fun. I loved movies, I’ve always loved movies. I would go to movies by myself at a very young age. It was in me. If no one would go with me I didn’t care. “
While she was still running track she met a news director from Montreal named Ron Reusch who told her that when she was done with her athletic career he wanted her to come and work for him in TV. And even though she didn’t study to be on television he saw something in her. So when her track career ended she was ready for a new challenge and she went for it. She did sports and the weather and whatever she could get and then she heard about the ET Canada opportunity and sent in her tape. The rest is history.
We spoke about how difficult it can be sometimes to interview the hottest celebs around. Especially when you’re working an event and your time is limited and it’s so hard to get that exact reaction that you’re looking for. She said: “I understand the importance of an interview. I love connecting with people and that’s one of the reasons I do it. Sometimes you’re on the red carpet and you don’t get time to connect - you get one question and they move on, but every now and then there’s something.”
Rosey lights up when she talks about her job. You can tell that she’s one of those lucky people who really loves what she does and the people she gets to work with. She goes on to talk about interviewing stars like Dustin Hoffman and Brad Pitt (who kissed her hand) and Will Smith, and how those stars are the ones that could sell you swamp land in Florida full of alligators because they’re just so damn charming! And the effect speaking to stars like that has had on Rosey – well she says this:
"When you’re in the room with someone with that much energy, you just don’t forget it and you go 'yeah I’ve gotta live my life like that."
For the record – Rosey has that exact kind of energy. As I left our very quick and all too brief meeting (damn Royal Visit traffic!) I couldn't help but think 'yeah, I've gotta live my life like that!'
As we were wrapping up, I asked Rosey what her one piece of advice was to me and other bloggers like me who want to continue to write and report and grow, and this is what she said:
"What you’re doing matters because you’re following your heart and it’s your passion. Never, never let go of your passion no matter how many ‘no’s’ you get for whatever reason. Use those ‘no’s’ as a propeller, have it propel you forward."
Totally worth the mad dash across town. And with that Rosey gave me a big hug and I thanked her for taking the time to chat with me and we both dashed off!
You can watch Rosey on ET Canada weeknights at 7:30 or you can follow her on twitter at @RoseyEdeh or @DivaJock.
Scene and Heard
Confessions of a Pop Culture Mummy
Printer-friendly version