Two years ago I spotted Jonathan Torrens at my favourite spot in Halifax. He was with a group of friends, sharing some apps and having a grand time. When the time came to leave, there was a bunch of food left on the table, and the people sitting next to them took note.

Next thing you know JRoc is gone and the table vultures swooped in. What happened next was a full on stranger eating other strangers leftovers. IN PUBLIC. This story was so horrifying that I kept it with me knowing that one day I would have the chance to share it with him. Because seriously, wouldn’t you want to know that something that effed up happened to YOU!?

Lucky for all of us, Jonathan rejoined Twitter and allowed me to share with him that night that is forever engrained in my mind.

While many of us feel like we know Jonathan Torrens after watching him for years on TV, there is a lot about Jonathan that you don’t know. So we took it upon ourselves to get to the scoop on the man who has been able to transform himself from a loveable teenage talkshow host on Jonovision, to a white rapper on The Trailer Park Boys and then back to a tightly wound egocentric Vice-Principal on Mr.D.

So without further delay we give you our interview with the hilarious, and unknowing food-sharer, Jonathan Torrens.

Q: You have really grown up in front of the camera, with a lot of your early days being spent with CBC. How does it feel after all these years to come back with such a hilarious new show?

A: Jonathan is celebrating his 25th anniversary of his TV career. Much like the saying “always a bridesmaid never a bride” Jonathan considers himself to be “always a garnish and never the main course”. In laymen’s terms, his role in ensemble casts, and as a talk show host never type cast him into a role that he could never shake down the road.

Q: As such a well known Canadian personality, do you get recognized / your food scraps stolen on the regular?

A: Once a lady mistook Jonathan for Anthony Cotton from Coronation Street. His daughter often confuses him for Ellen Degeneres. He also highly doubts that people eat his leftover food because they know it’s his. But we think he’s just being modest.

Q: Of all the characters you’ve played, who are you most like and who was been the most fun to play?

A: Despite being offered opportunities to take his rap career to the next level, Jonathan considers himself most like Mr. D’s Vice Principal Robert Cheeley who is not super cool but really wishes he was.

And not surprisingly his most fun character to play was JRoc on The Trailer Park Boys. He described JRoc as playing a cartoon character. But this fun role also had it’s challenges. How do you portray a wannabe white rapper that lives in a trailer park without offending anyone? Turns out he had nothing to worry about. Some applauded him for making fun of the try-hards, while those aspiring for greatness appreciated how he represented them. Well played JRoc. Well played.

Q: Did you write your own raps as JRoc?

A: Jonathan wrote every rap with the exception of one song which was written by Mike Clattenburg. And yes, his raps were SO good that he has been asked to perform them in front of live audiences.

Q: As the host of Wipeout Canada – tell us, is the course REALLY that hard?

A: The thing about Wipeout is that no one can watch the others compete. So if you were racing after Joan they’d say whoa Emily, Joan just FLEW through the course. You’ve got a lot of ground to make up so you better giv’r! And of course Emily flies through the course like a bat out of hell and ends up in the water. If you watch closely, those who are more panther-like will always win. Well them, and the athletes.

Q: Are you The Bachelor Canada?

A: Unless he’s allowed bringing his wife and two kids than no, he is not.

Now it must be noted that this simple question sparked a FLURRY of conversation. Not only is Jonathan Torrens a DIE HARD Bachelor(ette) fan, he’s also been on Spike TV’s The Joe Schmo Show as a faux reality contestant. So as far as we’re concerned, Jonathan Torrens is a certified expert on reality tv.

Because we too love The Bachelor, our interview was seriously derailed as a result of this finding. So instead we will give to you a collection of random thoughts that came of this chat.

• Sean Avery will not be The Bachelor Canada. He’s a polarizing figure which might not bode so well on The Bachelor.
• There is a very large chance that they will pick a hockey player and take the “he’s got everything but the girl” angle.
• Maybe it won’t be a hockey player at all because they’re far too polite and don’t make for great television.
• Football players make much better TV as they have stronger personalities. ** Another reason why perhaps Jesse Palmer is The Bachelor Canada?
• Brad’s season had much higher ratings than Ben’s. Brad also has better abs than Ben. We’re not rocket scientists but the correlation between great abs and high ratings is undeniable.
• Courtney is either truly a monster or a victim of some seriously bad editing.
• The term “Dippers Remorse” is what you get when you skinny dip with someone on The Bachelor when you shouldn’t have.
• On a subject in no way related to The Bachelor,  Jonathan is Team LC all the way (although he used to be team Heidi).

So there you have it. The onion that is Jonathan Torrens.

A huge thank you to Jonathan for taking the time to chat with us! Be sure to follow him on Twitter @theteevee and check him out on CBC’s Mr. D. Monday’s at 8pm!

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Tags: Bachelor, gerry dee, Joe Schmo Show, jonathan torrens, Mike Clattenburg, mr.D, Trailer Park Boys, Wipeout Canada