EDMONTON – The President and CEO of Edmonton’s Northlands organization will make his reality show debut this season on Undercover Boss Canada.
The show lets company executives moonlight as front-line workers, with the help of some sneaky disguises.
For Northlands boss Richard Andersen that meant using a Southern accent, wearing a long wig that gave him headaches, facial hair that nearly came off when he was eating, and a fat suit that took quite a bit of time to put on.
“It was definitely something where you didn’t want to drink a lot of beverage over the course of day, you didn’t want to be taking it on and off,” he recalls.
He says it took up to an hour and a half each day to get unrecognizable, and that’s on top of what were already long days for him.
Andersen’s toughest gig was converting Rexall Place from a hockey rink to a Bob Seger concert. He also spent time in the stables, working the concession, as well as making coffee and carrying trays in the catering department – jobs that he now realizes are a lot harder than they look.
“It looks easy when you’re standing there watching somebody put a food order together, but when you’re doing it, or when you’re making coffee or you’re whisking salad…it requires concentration and passion. I was really pleased to see how passionate people were.”
He adds that some employees’ stories even moved him to tears.
Overall, Andersen says it was an “amazing” experience that taught him a lot. But he does have one regret.
“Nobody asked me out for a date,” he jokes. “I was a little disappointed. I was thinking I was looking pretty good for an older, overweight, long-haired dude.”
The Undercover Boss Canada episode featuring Andersen and the Northlands organization airs September 26 at 7 p.m. MT on the W network.
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