PARADISE, NL – Tina Thistle won’t soon forget how being a houseguest on the reality TV show
Big Brother Canada helped her dream come true.
All photos on this page are courtesy of Global TV.
A graduate of College of the North Atlantic’s (CNA) Graphic Design program, Thistle says she enjoyed watching both the American and Canadian versions of
Big Brother and wanted to get involved one day.
“It’s such a unique social experiment that requires social, physical and mental skills to compete,” she said. “When watching the show, I was always drawn to the idea of perhaps one day I’d actually get inside the house, and so I did.”
Thistle says she enjoyed her time as a houseguest and especially liked the challenges.
“You have to navigate through different types of personalities and people from all walks of life at different life stages,” said the native of Paradise, NL. “You’ve entered a house where you need to expect the unexpected, with so many different people all competing for the end prize – trusting your gut can even become questionable in some cases.”
Looking back at her time on
Big Brother Canada, Thistle notes it was the connections she made with people that meant the most to her.
“I’m honoured to have been part of such a diverse and amazing group of people – the lifelong friendships made within the house are ones I’ll hold for a very long time,” she said. “It’s amazing that in such a short period of time within the house, the bonds created were almost instant.”
Thistle says she made connections with not only her fellow houseguests, but also fans of the show from all over Canada. One such fan, a little girl from New Brunswick, wrote her a letter to tell her how much she enjoyed watching her each week.
“That one letter was worth the complete
Big Brother Canada experience for me,” she said.
Part of her DNA
Thistles believes she brought her Newfoundland sense of humour to the
Big Brother Canada house.
“I had some shirts made with some of the sayings like
Yes B’y,
Oh Me Nerves,
Crooked as Sin,
Best Kind and, of course,
Whaddaya At! – it wasn’t long and other houseguests were saying them,” she said. “Since leaving the house, I’ve had messages from all over saying they love the sayings and people are now using them themselves in their everyday language.”
Thistle comes by her jovial spirit honestly. Her grandmother was the late great singer Joan Morrissey, who is often referred to as Newfoundland’s First Lady of Song. She was a pioneer in the entertainment industry in her time.
Like her grandmother, Thistle has a tenacious spirit and lofty goals.
“Follow your dreams – no matter how small or big they are! Never in a million years did I think I would get the opportunity to experience
Big Brother Canada, but I did,” she said. “If there is something you really want in life, you just go for it, keep trying and eventually things will work out.”
So is the case with her career path after graduating from CNA. Thistle and her partner run a company called Cre8iv Design & Print, offering graphic design and digital printing services.
For more information about CNA’s programs, visit:
www.cna.nl.ca.
-30-
Media contact:
Ryanne McIsaac
Content Specialist
College of the North Atlantic
709-643-7870
Ryanne.mcisaac@cna.nl.ca