George Stroumboulopoulos Gets Candid About His Mother’s Advice and Special Bond With a Horse

George Stroumboulopoulos’ Unexpected Journey Into Horse Ownership

George​‍​‌‍​‍‌ Stroumboulopoulos didn’t think he would ever have a horse. To him his “children” were his motorcycles. His soon-to-be ex-girlfriend even had trouble getting him to name the cat.
It was just a chance opportunity that he accompanied his friends in August to the livestock auction in Jurupa Valley to see, not buy.
George Stroumboulopoulos came out with a 16.3 HH gelding.

‘Something about that big black horse in the back corral had touched him,’ George said. “He looked like a dusty leather jacket of a horse,” George told us. “I thought, ‘Oh, I like him.’”
“Initially I didn’t want a horse but later decided not to let him lose it.”

After losing and then chasing the horse’s buyer for a while, George bought him to save him from being abused and sent to a slaughterhouse. In return, he asked for only $500. And that night he was in his 1971 fume-stewing El Camino, driving home for the whole two hours.

“Oh, f,” he recalls himself, thinking, “Now what do I ​‍​‌‍​‍‌do?”

George Stroumboulopoulos Finds an Unexpected Home With His Rescued Horse

Thankfully,​‍​‌‍​‍‌ the friend who had previously managed the matter was able to host the new buyer at the same location that she kept her horses. Months passed for George in which getting to know his horse was a primary concern: his feeding, scratching, reading, and getting business done while the animal was in his stall, the latter allowing the high-strung gelding, a “purebred Andalusian”, to adjust his temperament gradually and get used to his unexpected saviour. George’s concern was not getting a horse now in his life, he mentions. He wanted only that the animal not be killed.

“And,” he says with a smile, “I have saved the best horse around.”

Nearly all times, other than on top of his mountain bike or at his piano, George would prefer to be out in the field with Vincent the Black Shadow. There is even a possibility of “70 per cent”; he could rent part of the stables. Change from a trot to a gallop – how about that?

But that’s how George, a 54-year-old man with on-air encounters that brought out both Tom Cruise and the future King Charles, has been driven by compassion, curiosity, and a love for adventure all these years.

Along with those, there is also the spirit of adventure that his Ukrainian mother, Mary, accidentally passed down to him. He was told as a kid, “The world is the only mansion you’ve got – don’t just use two rooms out of it.”

His laugh is a bit nervous when he says, “I don’t think she really had this sort of lifestyle in mind,” but the way he lives the saying now is quite literally the ​‍​‌‍​‍‌case.

George Stroumboulopoulos’ Mother Reveals His Fearless Side

She​‍​‌‍​‍‌ can’t even begin to grasp the level of carelessness that I exhibit.

At the same time, the way she describes him? “She thinks I’m a sweetheart; she thinks I’m a hard worker.” He says, after deep reflection on the subject, “She can’t imagine the degree of recklessness I have shown. Once, she said to me, ‘One moment I’m envisioning you as a toddler playing with a trike, and the very next moment I discover that you are hanging out in Mexico on bikes with cartels.’

At the photo location in Toronto, there was a motorcycle that was supposed to be filmed – his buddy Sergio had kindly left his shiny Harley – but, fortunately, there were no cartels.

George, greeted by the HELLO! Canada team, as if they were old friends of his, and, with his characteristic charm, threw in some suggestions that were quite youthful.

For the motorcycle photo taken in the alleyway filled with graffiti, not far from his house, he imagined a specific attitude, something akin to Marlon Brando in The Wild Ones.

He kindly declined our proposal to get photographed in the hot tub. “Maybe in 18 months,” he jokes, faking looking at his biceps in dismay.

The two-level house is a rather messily arranged place – George is shooting a programme, and his “OCD mind” definitely doesn’t like clutter – but it doesn’t look like he’s upset with the situation or anything. He has lived there for more than two decades, and it all worked out because of his producer on the CBC talk show, The Hour (later George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight).

“It seems that it is exactly your house,” the producer said to George, “and it has a For Sale sign on it.”

After work, George rode his vivid yellow Harley to take a look. The owner, who had just been talking with the man who had constructed the house, was outside. The purchase was concluded in less than two ​‍​‌‍​‍‌days.

“I wasn’t depressed at all. I actually thought I was winning.”

Living in the house brought up some strange thoughts about possessions. One way to know how many things there are is to find out where a person can sit: 19 places altogether. His excess was just a bit silly, he thought. So he decided to put away the dining table, chairs, couches and much more of the furniture.

Surprisingly, the people who used to be his friends did not at all support the way he had changed the look of his interior.

“When my friends started to come over, they would wonder about me because, ‘Why don’t you have anything here? Are you OK?'”

“I wasn’t even at all down. I actually thought I was winning by not having things. My idea was that I was winning by not having possessions.” However, freedom from stuff was also a bit strange. “One evening I hit the chandelier and fell down because I had a room with no table under it.”

The only thing that did not get thrown away or moved was the pianole. Even without having played it for a long time, it is said to have seen many faces on it: Jackson Browne, Jeremy Dutcher, Regina Spektor, and George – a classically trained musician – himself, has at times been very much fond of the instrument. In fact, he loves the fact that the pianole is placed near the window and gives the impression that it lives a life of its own through the light.

“It has the view. It sees the trees, the wind blowing in. It is not confined,” he says. “It feels just as if that pianoe was giving my life a fullness because I have given it a full ​‍​‌‍​‍‌life.”

George Stroumboulopoulos Turns His Home Into a Live Music Venue for Fans

In‍‍‍ the end, all their furniture was back to them, and there was a new use for the space: to have music lovers come together under his roof. George had observed how the Queen Street West shopfront studios at the radio radio station The Edge and TV’s MuchMusic had given fans the rare chance to meet their favourite stars in person. When the radio studio had closed and become a shop and Much’s windows were shut, he decided to bring the intimacy back.

How?
House of Strombo: a show of live performances at his home.

Friends, he said, cautioned him not to invite strangers into his private space, but he still carried out his idea.

At one time, he put out a post on Instagram and found a group of fans waiting in the park, and he walked them to his house. At the front door was a surprise: Jimmy Eat World, the band known for “The Middle”, ready to go on and perform a set. “That was it; that was the job. When I caught the glance in [the fans’] eyes,” I ‍‍‍said.

George Reveals the Life Lessons His Mother Taught Him

As‍‍‍ a child, George had already learned that part of living is helping others. He was brought up around Toronto’s west end (including the area that is now Rexdale) until he was 10 years old when his family relocated to Malton. His father’s absence since he was seven created the necessity for his mom to come up with creative solutions to keep George distracted while she worked.

“She would bring me to a library in the morning because she didn’t have the money to pay a babysitter, so she talked with the librarian about keeping me indoors.”

At an elder’ home, “the mother would have said”, “Look through the door or windows, and if you find someone who’s lonely, go inside the room and chat. Being a human being means being there for people.’

When they literally had nowhere to sleep, a kind-hearted neighbour offered to give them his cottage in the north part of town. That was the time when even the roof of a place didn’t make one hesitate. “My mother and sister Natasha and I used to sleep together in one bed with the blankets completely covering us, just not to get the bites of the bats in our hair. ” He, nevertheless, never forgot the feeling of the community being there for a family. “Life basically depends in part on your interactions with other people,” he states. “To be honest, life is almost a secret which we can discover by our being kind and loving to people and helping each other. ” Everything else just adds up to the background noise.”

Even though he and his mother often disagree about religion and politics, she is still someone who leaves a deep impression on George. She had simply told him,” Just try to be a good worker, stay humble and, of course, heaven will welcome you.” ‘ I guess in return I will give her only two out of three, if you know what I mean,” he adds with a ‍‍‍smile.

His Grandfather’s Legacy and Family Roots

In‍‍‍ addition to the family history passed down through generations from his ancestors and the cultural roots instilled by his father, George had another kind of grounding through a very different source. His Papou, the Greek word for grandfather, or as George called him, was an inspiring figure. He was born and raised in a Cairo orphanage, and George says that although it was a very hard man to be for Papou, it was also a very kind one and a just and upright person. “I’m going to tell you that my grandfather absolutely loved me!” George would say.

George sailed down the Nile for a part of the trip that he made to Egypt in a felucca, the kind of ancient traditional sail that Egyptians used for hundreds of years, just like Pope did. Despite this being his first time doing it, something about being on the boat touched him in an unexpected place inside. To him, it was more than a boat and a journey; it was about who he was and where he’d come from, especially in the sense of generations of fishers and seafarers.

Even with such a large degree of self-reliance and autonomy, it did not take him long to realize the truth was that his ability to trust himself, to think for himself, to make his own decisions, to be free and all of that, was a direct result of having been loved so much.

Where as mother was more of a model of compassion in teaching him to care for other people, music became a means of expression which led him to discover that so many people were sharing not only his music taste but his attitude as well. For him, listening to heavy metal brought home the feeling that he fit in, that there was a part of him that was not alien within a community of metalheads.

Punk, especially The Clash and the legendary Joe Strummer, who was his favorite, showed him that creating a community goes against just being a member of it, it means having a responsibility.

George’s work is closely tied with his personal pursuits. From music to broadcasting and eventually, talk radio, his career has been quite a long way, with stops at the likes of The Edge, MuchMusic, his CBC talk show, Hockey Night in Canada and, in recent five years, Apple Music. Besides this, George has won over ten Gemini and Canadian Screen Awards. At the same time, he has helped humanitarian aid work in several crises affected countries such as Haiti, Pakistan, Syria and ‍‍‍Darfur.

Friendship, Fame and His Order of Canada Honour

“He‍‍‍ always makes you feel like you’re the most important person in the world,” says George when he talks about an actor friend sitting in the park, as we are outside a caf? on Queen Street West. He sends the actor a message. “Let’s see if he replies.”

A message is returned showing Jon is still in NYC. Have they already taken the little one home? we wondered. George seems to have no idea. “I didn’t even know she was pregnant.”

“My friends and I, we don’t talk about personal lives,” he says as a reason. “I’ve no clue when they are up to what.” “When does the little one come?”

Achiever George, nevertheless, he is a celebrated one himself. He was a recommendation for the artist Richie Hawtin when the government office wanted a recipient for the Order of Canada. “I did not even think they were for me,” he says, as it seems.

Tonight of all nights, when they actually happened, in March, the mother came, and the ceremony was held. And he is no afraid about showcasing the pin, typically a leather or a denim piece that you can match it to. “I don’t think they were meant for guys like me to carry them through such a style of fashion,” he says jokingly of how hard it would be to pin a pin to a leather jacket.

Congratulations! You are one of national treasures, how does that feel? he dismisses this with a gesture.

“You know that kind of the guy who walks the beach with his metal detector and starts thinking he has unearthed a treasure when he discovers an old coin? Probably that I am just that old coin,” he replies, glancing at you with such an open, friendly ‍‍‍gesture.

George Stroumboulopoulos Reveals His Ambitious Plans for New Shows, Films and Radio

His‍‍‍ next conversation will come to us via FaceTime from the Topanga mountains. His retreat is located in the Santa Monica mountains.

“I don’t know,” he responds with mild surprise to an off-putting remark on the environment at the time.

We are in one of his favorite areas, so he invites us out. It is just the first few minutes he leads us around his modest cabin and reveals El Camino and motorcycles parked outside. We should avoid visiting a certain place: “That’s rattlesnake alley.”

He has so busy an existence that it is difficult to believe that the natural surroundings are real. “I just finished up preparing a pitch document for a show,” he tells.

After this, George shares the highlights of his day: feeding 20 horses, cleaning the stalls, another interview and radio shows to work on. That is DAZ, his new independent, listener-supported station combining talk, radio music, and alternative culture. George: “I think I haven’t been as excited doing this in a very long time.”

His feature on film, Stories That Made Us, is the new streaming documentary from him on CBC Gem. It is about how Canadian film and television have been instrumental in shaping our national identity. A follow-up is an interview series that will feature homegrown story-tellers such as: Mike Myers, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, which is set for a later this month release.

He has also written and directed two short films, and both are coming out next year. The third film will also be released as soon as he finishes it. George is always full of energy despite the small amount of sleep, which only lasts him two to four hours. It is, in fact, enough sleep, George asserts, rejecting suggestions to the ‍‍‍contrary.

George Reveals His Health Battle and Why He Chose a Life Without Children

But‍‍‍ at 22 he felt his body was completely worn out after a four-job routine plus a six-night-a-week party life and he even had this doctor’s prediction that he wouldn’t live six months if he didn’t change his lifestyle. But he didn’t take the words to heart. Yet, he was getting closer to the grave, another doctor’s warning came: “You are really, really dead if you don’t change your life tomorrow.”

Only when seriously getting ill did he realize the critical situation of “I am just tired of living this life.””So he stopped drinking, moved in with his mother in her basement and spent hours and hours getting addicted by listening to Alice in Chains song lyrics.

George credits his ability to stay the course through all the hardships, and calls his capacity for discipline an amazing source of strength, which he considers his ultimate talent. But he is quick to credit his good fortune over personal effort or merits, and is modest about his success, even when he could easily say he is the one who took a decisive turn in his life:

” I just got a good bit of luck”, he shares.

Now George follows a strictly vegan diet and practices intermittent fasting which means sometimes he is just having breakfast or a dinner. He is dating one of those “dinner-only” girlfriends that you just make fun of.

“I am a very fun person. I’ve found fun in everything.” George states with confidence.

Even though George keeps on denying and hiding his love life, he agrees to talk about it. “I am an extraordinary person due to the extraordinary women who either became my partners or my friend. My life has gotten much better because of that. I appreciate whoever shares a bit of their life with me and lets me in. “Having children will be something that George cannot see himself as. “It never crossed my mind to be a father,” he says. “On top on my value chain is freedom as the most important asset of a person.”

At times, freedom means just a quiet night in front of a TV, without doing anything that will make him break a sweat, George shares. “I usually spend my nights watching detective shows on a variety of platforms like BritBox and Acorn. I like them so much that I call myself in a ‘detective-old-lady’ phase”, he says. His favorite pastime is “a bowl of popcorn and Vera ‍‍‍”.