Hal Johnson & Joanne McLeod (BodyBreak)

Obstacles & Opportunities

Hal Johnson & Joanne McLeod aka 80s/90s sensation BodyBreak! The Canadian television hosts are both former international-level athletes. Hal with baseball, and Joanne as a hurdler.

Since 1988, they produced over 300 short episodes of BodyBreak as well as a single season television series. They expanded the program into speaking engagements, fitness equipment, and other products.

As a mixed-race couple, they have faced their share of racism, and sought to be inclusive when casting for their BodyBreak episodes.

In 2013, Hal & Jo participated in the first season of The Amazing Race Canada (TARC)! This is how WE became connected with them. After our season of TARC aired in 2016, Hal & Jo reached out to us, took us out for breakfast, and they haven’t been able to shake us since!

In 2016, they received the Governor General’s Meritorious Service Medal for positively impacting the health of Canadians.

They have an impressive list of guest appearances. Some fun ones include… being grand marshals of the 2013 Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Parade, being guest “anchors” on the news comedy program This Hour Has 22 Minutes, doing a parody of themselves for the Netflix Series Santa Clarita Diet, and creating a COVID-19 physical distancing segment for the Vancouver International Airport.

In this episode, we delve into Hal & Joanne's past athletic careers, BodyBreak, and—of COURSE—the Amazing Race Canada. We’d love to learn more about their love story and experience with racism, so they’ll just have to be guests again. Thanks Hal & Jo!

https://bodybreak.com/