Carlos from YTV – Interview: 15 Years of Hosting

If you’re a Canadian under the age of 25, odds are you grew up watching YTV.

For fifteen years, Carlos Bustamante has been the beloved face of Canadian television network, YTV. Starting from humble beginnings as the company’s janitor (at least, according to an on-air bit), Carlos danced his way up to ‘The Zone,’ a landmark after school program block, co-hosting alongside Sugar Lyn Beard. When Sugar left the show in 2007, Carlos took over full hosting duty and hasn’t looked back since.

Between then and now, Carlos’ role at YTV has grown to include writing and producing content for The Zone, as well as hosting shows like “The Next Star” and interviewing A-list celebrities for programs like “Big Fun Movies.” Recently Carlos has been hitting the road to attend conventions and meet some of his fans, many of whom are now young adults. We had the pleasure of chatting with him at Unplugged Expo 2016 about meeting grown up fans, youth outreach, making it big in today’s entertainment industry, and more.

Check out the video or read our interview below:

Geekpr0n: You’re doing more of these conventions lately and you’re starting to meet some of the kids who grew up watching you that are now in their twenties. How has that experience been?

Carlos: It’s been fantastic. I always say that I have the best fans because people love their childhood, for the most part. I’ve always been lucky to have a great fanbase of people that were just always cool and friendly. And now that you guys are older and making things on your own, I’m super interested in seeing the kinds of things that everyone is up to.

It’s a weird kind of relationship, even now I have kids who watch and they say hi to me as if they know me, and now that a lot of you guys are older, I’m so interested in seeing all of the cool stuff that you’re doing.

GP: And you don’t just host, you’re also doing a lot of youth outreach and charity work. Did that passion of yours to help with charity programs evolve out of YTV?

Carlos: It’s always been something I’ve been interested in ever since I was a kid too. I was raised to kind of believe that giving back and doing what you can with whatever you have is important. So with the platform that I currently have, even doing a little bit can make a bigger difference for someone who has that kind of platform.

GP: Is there any big ambition of yours that you haven’t had a chance to do yet for The Zone or for YTV that you would love to do for them?

Carlos: I always have ideas kicking around in the back of my head, and every year I pitch new things. Some of the things we do, and some other things are a little out of reach at the time. But my life consists of just like a checklist of things I want to do. And even in regards to work, I feel the same way about that.

“My life consists of just like a checklist of things I want to do.”

So one of the things on my checklist is getting us to Japan again. That’s one thing I would like to do with the show.

GP: When was the last time you guys were there?

Carlos: Well Sugar went there, I think it was the year I started, and I was like “what? WHAT?!” It was for a wide variety of things because anime was so big back then. And she was involved in it so it made sense for her to go.

GP: That’s true, yeah, with Sailor Moon!

Carlos: But I was the fan! So it was tough for me to watch her go. But that’s one thing. Getting us out to meet more fans in Canada is another one. But the thing I love about being [at YTV] is there’s always a wide variety of things to do, we’re always having a good time, and yeah, the opportunity to put things forward with new ideas is always welcome.

GP: The entertainment industry is always changing, and things are different from when you started. But what is maybe some timeless advice for someone who is trying to break in whether it’s as an online personality, a TV personality; what kind of advice would you give someone today?

Carlos: Make sure you love it! And that goes for anything, it’s not just media. If you really really have a passion for something and think that you can monetize it in one way or another, follow it! Follow the passion. And don’t just do what makes you happy, and I’m going to take this from Charlie Day, I’m gonna steal it wholesale: don’t just do what makes you happy, do what makes you great.

“Follow the things that you know that you can do,”

Follow the things that you know that you can do, things that you want to pursue, and the things that you’re willing to bleed for. That’s how you’ll get there. Otherwise you’re kind of wasting your time I think.

A big thanks goes out to Unplugged Expo 2016 for having us and Carlos from YTV for chatting with us.

Find Carlos at:
https://www.youtube.com/user/ytv
Twitter: @YTVCarlos
Instagram: @Losbot
Snapchat: @Losbot