Terrell ‘Ty’ McDonald shouts out Finch and Weston en route to ‘Big Brother Canada’ Season 11 win

When Toronto native Terrell “Ty” McDonald, the latest winner of “Big Brother Canada,” came out to confetti raining on him, he searched for his mother’s face in the packed studio audience.

McDonald’s mother, who he named multiple times in his finale speech, was near the front row, wiping away tears as her son took home the crown for the show’s 11th season.

“That was an unreal moment,” said McDonald, a 28-year-old personal trainer. “Watching my mom being able to see her first-born son win this show, in the fashion that I did. She was the reason that I stayed in this house … I’m happy that I was able to make her proud standing on that stage as the winner of this season.”

The finale came down to the showmance couple, McDonald and Prince Edward Island’s Claudia Campbell. After a tumultuous season, where the house turned on McDonald and he almost quit, he wound up winning the final vote 8 to 1.

Known as the competition beast throughout the season, McDonald set a “Big Brother Canada” record, winning the most challenges in a single season.

“I’m just a kid from Finch and Weston road but in this game I was forced to be a one man army and I not only rose to the occasion, I rose above it,” he said in his final speech.

With the victory, he walks away with a $100,000 cash prize, a wardrobe from Winners worth $10,000 and another $10,000 worth of products from Shark and Ninja.

The long-running reality show features a group of contestants who live in a home under constant video surveillance and are sequestered with no contact with the outside world. Each week, the contestants compete in competitions to win power and safety inside the house, before voting each other off at the end of the week.

For McDonald, who grew up in the Finch and Weston road area of Toronto and attended Northview Heights Secondary School, his goal being on the show was to make his presence felt and represent people coming from similar circumstances as him.

“I just wanted to be hope for people that come from where I do because there’s not a lot of hope,” said McDonald. “We watch TV shows, we watch movies and we’re like, ‘We will never be able to do that.’ But now they can see that it’s possible.”

McDonald is the second Black contestant to win “Big Brother Canada” in eleven seasons of the show.

“He has played an iconic game, at one point, the house was against him, including myself when I put him on the block,” said runner-up Campbell. “Kudos to him, he had saved himself time and time again and I think he has played a game that he should be proud of.”

Campbell earned $20,000 for her second-place finish while fan favourite houseguest Jonathan Leonard, a fisherman from Newfoundland, received $10,000 from Winners.

With the show’s grand prize, McDonald plans to help his mother out, give back to the community and do some charity work.

“Now that I have the money, I can definitely increase my impact, increase my reach and just do more positive stuff for people that come from where I come from,” said McDonald.” That’s my goal, just help better situations for people who are experiencing tough times.”

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