The fifth season of Canada’s Worst Driver, hosted by Andrew Younghusband, is back with its familiar format. Eight awful motorists have been sent off to a televised driver’s rehab by concerned friends and/or family. All eight have their driver’s license stripped from them in week one. Starting in episode two, a contestant graduates from rehab each week until we are left with the person most deserving of the title of Canada’s Worst Driver.
Last year that dubious distinction went to a more than a little vain woman who is hard to forget. Season Four’s Ashley Van Ham exploded into expletive laced tirades virtually every time she was behind the wheel. She also routinely wore outrageous high heeled shoes that were laughably ill suited for long days of urgently stomping on and off gas and brake pedals.
Now a new run of the Discovery Channel’s entertaining driver rehab series is underway with a woman every bit as self-absorbed as the aforementioned Van Ham. This diva of distinction leads off a run down of the eight must see, painfully bad motorists taking to the road in Canada’s Worst Driver 5.
Angelina Marcantognini (age 26)
- She's a: Self professed “Stay at home girlfriend” from Sudbury Ontario
- Driving style: Preoccupied - she keeps the rear view mirror pointed at herself so she can apply layer upon layer of makeup.
- Episode One Highlight: In the midst of being dressed down by the show’s panel of driving experts, her cell phone goes off in another room, sending her immediately clopping off in high heels
Father Giles Joly (age 56)
- He's a: Roman Catholic Priest from Richmond Ontario
- Driving style: Slower than slow – believes, “If you’re going slow they don’t give you a ticket.”
- Episode One Highlight: Is shocked to learn from former OPP police officer Cam Wooley that you can indeed get a ticket for driving too slow
Jakob Poirer (age 25)
- He's a: Punk Rock musician from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
- Driving Style: In your face aggressive – asserts that you’re entitled to go ten kilometers over any posted speed limit
- Episode One Highlight: Proudly declares, “I drive punk rock!”
JoJo Kopty (age 19)
- She's a: Major financial drain on her parents from Dollard-des-Ormeaux,Quebec
- Driving Style: Indifferent - her parents cover all her vehicle and insurance costs so she’s little fazed by the many accidents she’s had in just two years of driving
- Episode One Highlight: Does a fine job on an obstacle course challenge until she gets to the speed portion and puts her foot down way too hard
Melissa Cook (age 32)
- She's a: New driver with less than a year’s experience from Saint John, New Brunswick
- Driving Style: Intimidated: She is continually second guessed and verbally abused by her common-law husband when he is sitting in the passenger seat
- Episode One Highlight: Actually drives better once her irate husband vacates the vehicle in disgust during a particularly tough driving challenge
Mike Butt (age 28)
- He's a: Junker car driving specialist from Regina Saskatchewan
- Driving Style: Shady – puts dummy plates on some of the heaps he drives and admits to having had more than two dozen minor hit and runs
- Episode One Highlight: Is shown making a quickie repair to one of his barely mobile wrecks with tape and some plastic sheeting
Arun Suryanarayanan (age 25)
- He's a: Recent arrival to Canada from Bombay, India now living in Windsor, Ontario
- Driving Style: Obstruction oriented – likes to drive in two lanes at once much to the dismay of the motorists following behind him
- Episode One Highlight: Gets frustrated with his wife for continually laughing at his pathetic efforts to guide a vehicle through some tight turns
Crystal Farao (age 46)
- She's a: Cell phone addict from Windsor, Ontario
- Driving Style: Continually distracted – takes phone calls, sends text messages, lights cigarettes; does everything but concentrate on the road
- Episode One Highlight: Stops mid driving challenge to light yet another cigarette
Stephen Smith - A Southern Alberta freelance writer for close to a decade; Stephen has been paid to write about TV shows, movies, books and music he would ...
