A content creator, actor and international presenter from North BC who has spent time in Smithers has landed his biggest job yet.
Dancin Wayne, a former Smithers radio station host, is on his way to Qatar to host the opening ceremony of the World Cup (soccer).
The social media star, who doesn’t want to use his real name due to privacy concerns, lived in Smithers from 2015-2019 and was on the local airwaves while working at Creative Roots Studios before moving to another community in northern BC.
He was working a 9-5 desk job and slowly building a part-time social media platform when a horrific accident made him reconsider what he was doing.
“I was in a terrible car accident, a drunk driver pushed me off the road and basically pronounced me dead,” he said. “And then I went back to my desk during recovery and I was already really unfulfilled, especially during the pandemic when everything was happening. I just stopped giving my two weeks one day.”
He was already doing well on Tik Tok before he quit his job. He had 20,000 followers and made videos about education and his perspective on life. As soon as he jumped in with two feet, his following quickly grew. It now has over 800 million views.
“So when I went to Tik Tok full-time, a representative from FIFA slipped into my DMs,” he said. “He said, ‘Hey, we’re having an event in Las Vegas.’ This was literally months after I quit my job. And they’re like, ‘Do you want to host this event? It’s in their new Raider Stadium. We can’t offer too high a budget.” I thought I didn’t care. I’ll be there. And I went down there. I was it was the CONCACAF Gold Cup. It was Mexico versus the USA. I had the best time ever. It was so much fun. I made the right connections and made a lasting impression. They kept calling me for different events.”
Dancin Wayne has since hosted several international events.
“So once you figure out what your luck is, it all becomes easy,” he said.
The World Cup pumped him up.
“I know five billion people are watching this,” he said. “It’s kind of an odd number to wrap my head around. Honestly the excitement is high, Canada being there is crazy.”
He is proud to represent Canada and Northern BC
He fondly remembers his time at Smithers and misses the community. He’s still friends with Alex Cuba, with whom he says he shares a common vibe.
“We talk about Smithers all the time because we think I can’t believe this place exists. It’s overwhelming.”
He added that Smithers Brewing Company offered to send him a care package containing Smithers pins, which he says he will wear while he hosts the World Cup.
“I would do anything for Smithers,” he added.
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