Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod


Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod are Canadian television hosts and former international-level athletes. They are best known for their television segments called BodyBreak, which have been in intermittent production since 1988. The program is considered a cult classic among Canadian pop culture.
Johnson and McLeod were both international-level athletes, Johnson with baseball and McLeod with the track and field discipline of hurdles. The duo self-financed the pilot for BodyBreak in 1988. Rejected by over 40 companies, they received funding from ParticipACTION for 65 episodes. Over 300 short episodes have been produced, as well as a single-season television series. They have expanded the program into speaking engagements, exercise equipment, and other projects. As a result of racism that Johnson and his parents experienced, their programs and products have intentionally sought to feature an inclusive cast.

Biography

Hal Johnson

Johnson was born in the United States, and grew up in North York, the child of Black and Irish parents. Johnson was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child; he would later memorize all the lines for BodyBreak.
The captain of his high school's hockey, baseball, basketball and football teams, Johnson attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship, earning a business degree. An all-star first baseman, he represented Canada at the World Baseball Championship.
Over 10 years, Johnson lived in the United States, attending the University of Colorado, and living in Washington, D.C., Long Beach, San Francisco, Denver, and Boulder.
After his athletic career, Johnson was hired at TSN as a sports reporter. Network executives rescinded that offer the same day it was made, stating that they didn't want a second Black reporter. As an extra in an advertisement for Woodbine Racetrack, during the 1980s, Johnson was moved so that he wouldn't be sitting next to a white woman. These experiences of racism, as well as the experiences of his parents, helped push Johnson to create BodyBreak as a countermeasure. The show deliberately sought inclusive casting. Johnson has commented that "the media has not only a tremendous responsibility, but a tremendous power" to influence public perception and acceptance. In 2020, the topic of racism became central, following the protests initiated by the killing of George Floyd. Johnson recorded an unscripted video titled "How We Battled Racism". The video received wide attention in Canada, and led to Johnson speaking on the subject on many media outlets. TSN issued an apology.
Johnson appeared on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg over 100 times.
Johnson's former mustache is well-known.

Joanne McLeod

McLeod is of German and Italian heritage, and grew up in Scarborough with her adoptive family. McLeod's physical education teacher in high school had competed at the 1968 Olympic Games. The teacher encouraged McLeod to join a track club. She became a 4-time national and 7-time provincial hurdle champion. She represented Canada at events including the Pacific Conference Games, World Cup, Tri-Meet-Canada/PolandEngland, and the 1978 Commonwealth Games.
As of 2013, McLeod was reported to be still running marathons.

As a couple

Hal and Joanne met in a gym, and started to date.
Hal and Joanne married in 1999.
They tour the country doing speaking engagements on the topics of health and teamwork.
After living in Mississauga, the couple has lived in Oakville, Ontario since 2000.

''BodyBreak''

Segments

Over 300 90-second episodes of BodyBreak have been produced, with the first 128 segments created between 1988 and 1994. The show focuses on how exercise can be incorporated into daily life. The program was conceived by McLeod and Johnson after meeting in a gym. Looking to produce a fitness show that was different than the other programs of the era, they looked to create something friendly, representing genders equally, and showing racial and physical diversity, a result of Johnson's experiences. They financed the show's pilot with their last $2000, collectively. Johnson worked on the series, while McLeod worked at Canada Life insurance to pay their bills. Three two-minute segments were filmed in July 1988, in Toronto's Sherwood Park, as a pilot.
More than 40 TV stations, ad agencies, and other corporations turned the pitch down. More than one was concerned with the image of people of different ethnic backgrounds interacting as equals. One was open to airing the program, but only if Joanne McLeod was joined by a white man; at least one report lists that broadcaster as TSN. Johnson decided to seek funding for the project from ParticipACTION, a federal government program. The organization commissioned five segments, with an additional order placed in January 1989, before the first airing. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was the first network to air the spots.
ParticipACTION dropped the hosts in 1991, after they had completed 65 segments, despite being the agency's most popular spots. They found different funding, and were able to continue production in 1992. They produced segments with Canada's Vitality project from 1993 to 1995. The segments were broadcast during commercial breaks as public service announcements on many Canadian television channels, but the most frequent broadcaster of the program was TSN.

Television series

In 1995, Life Network commissioned a 13 half-hour episode series based on the popular segments, which it aired in primetime. Most of the episodes included people with disabilities.

Business

Johnson has stated that the duo has "no business plan," so that they don't close themselves off from unexpected opportunities.
In 2020, Johnson commented that "as many successes that we've had, we've had a hundred failures. I expect that. I expect to fail... I'll find another way around it."
The BodyBreak brand has been used on a treadmill, Ab Master Workout, Step Workout, and other products. Hal and Joanne have also endorsed products without the trademark, including BackJoy.

Appearances

The couple competed in season 1 of The Amazing Race Canada. The possibility of being eliminated early in the season meant that their participation was considered risky. As such, the duo's months-long preparation included driving stick shift cars at the show's sponsor. They finished in sixth place. They feel they were portrayed in the series of "very vanilla," until the final episode, in which McLeod accidentally swore.
In the months following The Amazing Race, they were the grand marshals of the 2013 Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest Parade, and guest "anchors" on news comedy program This Hour Has 22 Minutes. Johnson and McLeod appeared in the music video for Sam Weber's "Anybodys'", chasing an anthropomorphized version of Johnson's mustache. They self-parodied in a promotion for Netflix zombie series Santa Clarita Diet; BuzzFeed deemed them "the cutest cannibals." They created a COVID-19 physical distancing segment for Vancouver International Airport.
Maclean's magazine has mused that "Trying to explain the cultural significance that “Hal and Joanne” have taken on since then is like trying to explain the cultural significance of Tim Hortons."