David Suzuki calls daughters "dynamite" TV hosts

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      Despite recent federal cutbacks to the CBC, the iconic show The Nature of Things isn’t going anywhere, according to its long-serving host.

      In an interview at the CBC’s downtown Vancouver headquarters, David Suzuki told the Straight he’s just signed another two-year contract with the national broadcaster. Suzuki, 76, started presenting the show in 1979.


      David Suzuki discusses his own future as host of the iconic program The Nature of Things.

      "Well, to me, the most important thing is staying on-air," Suzuki explained at a noisy media event. "The problem we face is that I’ve become very heavily identified as the face of The Nature of Things. And so for years I’ve been saying, ‘We’ve got to have a transition strategy. We need to find other hosts.’ Right now I am feeling physically very fine. I just signed a new two-year contract, so let’s see."

      Suzuki said he had thought of recommending his older daughter Severn Cullis-Suzuki to fill his shoes.

      "I told them a number of years ago that I would like to see—if I am so heavily identified—I’d like to have my daughter considered as a host," Suzuki said of Severn, known around the world for her speech to the United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. "She rejected it. She’s seen what being a host of the show has done to my life, and the family of course has seen me away a lot. She’s got a young family, and she’s not prepared to do that."


      Environmentalist David Suzuki admits his daughters would make great TV presenters.

      Suzuki also mentioned his younger daughter, Sarika Cullis-Suzuki who accompanied her father to Copenhagen, Denmark, for an episode on cycling.

      "She said, ‘Well, I don’t know if I’d want to do the show, but how about if we split it: Severn and Sarika?’ " Suzuki recalled. "But I don’t know. I don’t know whether management is even interested in that. I think the two are very photogenic. The youngest one’s getting her degree in marine biology. The other one’s married to a Haida and brings a whole other perspective. I think they’d be dynamite hosts."

      Comments

      2 Comments

      blueheron

      Sep 1, 2012 at 10:43pm

      Nepotism is as old as mankind.

      Representativecanuck

      Mar 11, 2013 at 9:32pm

      Nepotism makes me sick.