Kenny Brain (born August 26, 1988) is a Canadian television personality, best known as cohost with Kortney Wilson of the HGTV Canada home renovation series '' Making it Home with Kortney and Kenny''.Alex Kennedy
"This N.L. model turned contractor is making it big on a home improvement show"

CBC News CBC News is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC ...

Newfoundland and Labrador, September 12, 2021. The series is no longer in production, with the duo slated to launch a new series, ''Life Is Messy'', in 2025.Connie Thiessen
"Corus unveils more programming details around rebranded Home Network, Flavour Network"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', October 21, 2024. Originally from

Grand Falls-Windsor Grand Falls-Windsor is a town located in the central region of the island of Newfoundland (island), Newfoundland in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, with a population of 13,853 at the Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census. The town i ...

Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the populatio ...

, Brain worked as a model before competing in the second season of ''

Big Brother Canada ''Big Brother Canada'' is a Canadian television reality game show based on the Dutch reality show of the same name, which was part of the wider '' Big Brother'' franchise. The first season of the series premiered on February 27, 2013, on Sli ...

'' in 2014. Although openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

in real life and honest about his sexuality in viewer confessionals, he initially pursued a strategy of remaining

closeted ''Closeted'' and ''in the closet'' are metaphors for LGBTQ people who have not disclosed their sexual orientation or gender identity and aspects thereof, including sexual identity and sexual behavior. This metaphor is associated and sometime ...

among his housemates; although he did come out to housemate Sarah Miller a few weeks into the season, his strategy sparked some viewer and media debate about whether his choice was sending a message to viewers that being gay could be seen as a shameful secret. He and Miller were both voted out of the Big Brother house on Day 43. He has also since stated that his decision to stay in the closet at first, and come out as gay once the season was underway, helped to spark a valuable conversation about homophobia and the differing standards to which gay and straight people are held. After appearing on ''Big Brother Canada'', Brain quit modelling and trained as a construction contractor, later launching his own contracting business in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Following Wilson's divorce from her former husband and business partner Dave Wilson, Brain debuted as the new cohost of ''Making it Home'' in the show's second season in 2021.Melissa Hank
"Kortney Wilson moves on with new Making It Home show"
'' Canada.com'', September 3, 2021. He has stated that one of his goals as an HGTV host is to provide a positive role model for LGBTQ representation and inclusion in construction trades.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brain, Kenny Canadian television hosts Big Brother Canada contestants Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters Canadian gay entertainers People from Grand Falls-Windsor Living people 1988 births 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people