Kenny Brain (born August 26, 1988) is a Canadian television personality, currently cohost with
Kortney Wilson of the
HGTV Canada
HGTV is a Canadian English-language Category A cable and satellite specialty channel owned as a joint venture between Corus Entertainment (which serves as managing partner and owns 80.24% majority control through licensee HGTV Canada, Inc.) ...
home renovation series ''
Making it Home with Kortney and Kenny''.
[Alex Kennedy]
"This N.L. model turned contractor is making it big on a home improvement show"
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca ...
Newfoundland and Labrador, September 12, 2021.
Originally from
Grand Falls-Windsor
Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the 2021 census. The town is the largest in the central region, the si ...
,
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...
, Brain worked as a model before competing in the
second season of ''
Big Brother Canada'' in 2014. Although openly
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
in real life and honest about his sexuality in viewer confessionals, he initially pursued a strategy of remaining
closeted among his housemates; although he did come out to housemate Sarah Miller a few weeks into the season, his strategy sparked some viewer and media debate about whether his choice was sending a message to viewers that being gay could be seen as a shameful secret. He and Miller were both voted out of the Big Brother house on Day 43. He has also since stated that his decision to stay in the closet at first, and come out as gay once the season was underway, helped to spark a valuable conversation about homophobia and the differing standards to which gay and straight people are held.
After appearing on ''Big Brother Canada'', Brain quit modelling and trained as a construction contractor, later launching his own contracting business in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
.
[ Following Wilson's divorce from her former husband and business partner Dave Wilson, Brain debuted as the new cohost of ''Making it Home'' in the show's second season in 2021.][Melissa Hank]
"Kortney Wilson moves on with new Making It Home show"
'' Canada.com'', September 3, 2021. He has stated that one of his goals as an HGTV host is to provide a positive role model for LGBTQ representation and inclusion in construction trades.[
]
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Kenny
Canadian television hosts
Big Brother Canada contestants
Canadian LGBT broadcasters
Canadian gay men
People from Grand Falls-Windsor
Living people
1988 births
21st-century Canadian LGBT people