You might know Rick Campanelli as “Rick the Temp,” a cheerful TV and radio personality who got his start on MuchMusic after entering a contest in the ’90s. But what some might not know about this familiar Canadian face is that he’s lived a “secret life” behind the scenes — and he’s now ready to share the truth with the world.
The Hamilton, Ont.-native broadcaster is the first guest of 2026 on Arlene Dickinson’s podcast, “Arlene Is Alone,” which is returning in the new year to round out season 2. During his chat with the Canadian investor, he spoke about everything from growing up as a shy child and falling in love with music to his two marriages and an upcoming book that’s soon to be released.
Keep scrolling to learn everything we found out about Campanelli’s conversation with Dickinson. Plus, find the full video of the two Canadian personalities and their catch-up below.
Yahoo Canada has exclusive access to this season’s episodes of Arlene Is Alone, which will be published each Wednesday as the podcast goes live. In addition, Arlene Dickinson will be writing reflections for Yahoo Canada, in which she will share her personal takeaways from her conversations.
Reflecting on the ‘magical’ days of MuchMusic
In 1994, Campanelli won MuchTemp, an annual contest that offered the winner a two-month summer internship to learn everything about the station and the television industry. In early 1996, he went on air for the first time as a VJ.
“We’re coming up to the 30-year anniversary in a couple months,” he told Dickinson, adding he sometimes wishes he could go back to those days.
“Those innocent, simple, when you thought you knew everything about music, your thumb was on the pulse [days],” he said. “We’re living in different times, as we all know, but I was honoured to be part of that magical time at MuchMusic. It was a staple.”
Campanelli shared that he’s always been a person who tries to stay positive: “For me, life’s too short to be any other way.” (Photo illustration: Yahoo Canada; photo: Sonia Recchia/WireImage)
He recalled growing up in the 1980s when he’d come home from school, turn on the TV and see what videos were being shown on MuchMusic. He remembered watching former VJs like Steve Anthony, Erica Ehm and Michael William. Looking back, he said it was “pretty cool” to have lived that experience.
Dickinson pointed out that it’s often the case that people in such positions forget where they’re at and take their day-to-day for granted. But Campanelli shared that he made sure to cherish every moment, joking that at times, he was having too much fun.
He was shy growing up, but music helped
Looking back at his childhood, he remembered being a shy kid until he discovered his love for music in grade 7 or 8. He said that love of music helped him come out of his shell.
When he entered the MuchTemp contest, he initially believed he’d only be working at MuchMusic for the summer months of 1994 — but he ended up falling in love with the station. In turn, he wanted to extend his position past those two months, and he did what he could to make it happen.
“I was that pesky kid from Hamilton,” he recalled. “This punk kid who wouldn’t give up and I would anything and I did everything, almost everything, before going on air. It took me a year and a half before going on air.”
Still, he wasn’t an immediate master at the craft of being on air: “I was so nervous and uncomfortable and not confident with my own performance, and that took a while.”
He likes the fast-paced elements of today’s music industry
While the duo reminisced about the “simpler” times, Campanelli didn’t have anything bad to say about today’s era of streaming and social media.
“You have all these artists from around the world that would never have a shot back in the day when we were doing it, because you’d have to go through a record label, you’d have to be super talented, you’d have to be discovered,” he recalled. “Now, you get your device, you turn it on yourself, you sing a few licks and you put it on your social pages — it’s out there for the world to see.
“If you’re good enough, people are going to pick up on that. That’s what I like about how fast-paced it is these days. In my mind, there’s no negatives.”
He added that today, it does feel more overwhelming since it seems more difficult to keep up with new music and fresh talent: “There’s thousands of those, and back in the day, you used to count them on one hand or two hands.”
Marriage isn’t always ‘rainbows and lollipops’
He met his first wife, Kim, in the first six months of his job as a VJ. They were married for six years, and he said the relationship simply just didn’t work out. They now share a son named Noah, who’s now 20.
“After four, five years of marriage, I’m not going to call it a mistake, I just didn’t make the right decision,” he said, adding they were going through their divorce when he was working with his current wife, Angie, at ET Canada.
“It was the darkest year of my life,” he added. “It was so challenging and hard, and I’d never had any obstacle like that in my life before.”
He explained it was difficult to get through that year whilst also trying to be alert for his on-air performances. But during his troubles, he said Angie, who was his producer at the time, helped him navigate his problems. “It was a friendship that blossomed into a relationship.”
After dating for a while, they eventually got married, which will soon be 13 years ago. But over the years, he noted that — like any relationship — it’s not always “rainbows and lollipops.”
Campanelli and his wife, Angie, have been married for nearly 13 years. They share two boys together: Jack, 11, and Harrison, 9. (Photo illustration: Yahoo Canada; photo: George Pimentel/WireImage)
“The beautiful thing about it is, you work out the issues, you communicate. Communication’s huge, and you get through,” he said. “There’s always that light at the end of the tunnel.”
He shared that during the early days of his relationship with Angie, he was going through a lot in his life. No one really knew what he was experiencing, but Angie helped him get through it — and stayed with him during those troubling times.
“I was being challenged with a lot of demons internally,” he said. Angie recognized that … and she really helped me out in some really sad times and low times in my life.”
His book will detail his ‘secret life’
Campanelli shared that people can read more about his life story in a book that’ll soon be on shelves: “I’m 55 now, and people don’t know this side of me, and they should know it — I want them to know it. I’m not embarrassed anymore about what I lived through and what I went through.”
Onscreen, he said people might’ve seen him as the bright and cheery “Rick the Temp.” But behind the scenes, he was battling darkness he said no one knows about.
I owe it to these people to tell them about my secret life.
Rick Campanelli
He added that his family knows the book is coming out, but they don’t know exactly what he’s written about. He said he’s nervous about them learning the specific details, but knows that it’s time to share his life story.
“We all make mistakes, and we have regrets when we’re young and foolish, and we do things, but you learn from those moments. … My boys know, in these certain chapters, ‘Sure, daddy did something wrong or bad, but he corrected himself, and he made himself better, and he’s not going down those roads anymore,’” he added.
“I lived a secret life for many, many years, and I think I owe it to the people who tuned in to watch me back at MuchMusic — I owe it to these people. … I owe it to these people to tell them about my secret life. I think people need to know, and I’m ready to tell it.”
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