BY: Saada Branker

Tracy Moore emerged from the ranks of media in Toronto as an on-camera news reporter. In Summer 2008, when Rogers Media Television renewed the daytime show CityLine and auditioned its guest hosts for a permanent position, Moore took the chance to prove she could make the transition from news to lifestyle. In front of audiences across the country, she delivered and, by fall, from a stellar group of colleagues, she was tapped as CityLine’s new host.

“I’m a news girl, that’s my background,” says Moore. It’s Thursday and she’s sitting in Citytv’s boardroom after taping an episode on holiday home decor a week early. Still in makeup, she recounts her starts and stops. She obtained her masters in journalism from University of Western Ontario and later got her break as a videographer for CBC Toronto News at Six.

At the three-year mark, she left the public broadcaster, spending a minute at Toronto One until its swift collapse. She moved on to CTV and eventually Citytv in 2005. “All as a news reporter,” she confirms. Moore was even courted by ABC News in the US for a correspondent role in its London bureau. At the last minute that “all ended up falling through.”

City’s morning show, Breakfast Television, was her best training for CityLine, she says. “It’s the kind of format that allows you to switch gears quickly. So even as a roving reporter, one day I might be covering a homicide. The next day it’s, ‘What would you do if you won a million dollars?’”

Moore adds she wasn’t afraid to show personality on camera. Good thing. Toronto fans had been surprised by Marilyn Denis’ departure from CityLine after 19 years as host. Its producers took that moment to plan some changes for Canada’s lifestyle show, now in its 24th year and now a division of Rogers Media Inc. The company announced it was searching for a different personality for the successful program.

Moore says CityLine producers wanted her to reveal the girl next door, sharing tips for better living while talking to experts. The journalist from Richmond Hill wondered how to pull that off in front of an audience, surrounded by strangers. She says good advice came from an executive producer: “Simply have a conversation.” Even Moore’s husband, Lio Perron, suggested she not overthink the auditions, reminding her, “You’re likeable. Just be yourself, but do it on television.”

That’s how she approached it. “Every time, I would pretend this is how I would talk to one of my girlfriends. On Fashion Friday when you see a pair of pants and it’s: ‘I would never fit my bum inside of those pants,’ that’s what they wanted. Just be real.”

What’s unreal is Moore forgetting what she once uttered to Perron. “I met him at the CBC, that’s when we started dating…,” She digresses: “It was actually an atrocious first date. We were both bragging — two journalists together trying to impress each other. Ugly.” When he asked about career goals she responded, “I’d like to host my own show.” Eight years later, he remembers that.

Now married to Perron and the mother of their first child, Sidney — her most major accomplishment in a banner year, she maintains — Moore laughs about calling her fate. In her new role she’s imagining new goals. CityLine is now national, so broadcasting from the road is one idea, she says. “In the New Year I’m looking forward to implementing fitness… and having chats about personal finance.”

Watch Tracy reporting for City Line at The National Home Show:

For CityLine’s showtimes, go to cityline.ca.