Mikey McBryan had no idea he’d be going home from the Canadian Screen Awards with some hardware on Tuesday night.
The former star of the History Channel’s Ice Pilots NWT accepted the award for Best Factual Program or Series on behalf of the show in Toronto.
“This was our third time being nominated for Best Factual Program or Series but I wasn’t thinking too much of it,” McBryan told Moose FM.
“We were sitting in the back of the room. The last two times I rented a tux but this time I just went to Walmart the night before to buy some dress clothes.
“They mentioned the category, read out all the names and then read Ice Pilots. There were no words, I just went crazy.”
Read: Ice Pilots NWT Wins Canadian Screen Award
Ice Pilots NWT, which ended its six-season run last fall, featured Northwest Territories airline Buffalo Airways.
The show beat out Cold Water Cowboys, Emergency Room: Life + Death at VGH, Scam City, and Tessa & Scott for the award.
“This time I definitely wasn’t expecting to win,” McBryan added. “There was some tough competition and we’re basically a Vancouver show in a Toronto game.
“I was actually about to get a drink until executive producer David Gullason told me we were next so I thought I’ll wait a couple minutes, we’ll lose and then I’ll get a drink.
“Next thing I knew we were on stage hugging people along the way because doing this for six years, there were so many people who were happy for us.
“It was so surreal. It’s the closest thing I could ever achieve to winning the Stanley Cup. I’m still smiling.”
Read: Former Ice Pilots NWT Star Turns To NHL ’94 In New Show
We won! #CdnScreen15 @omnifilm @IcePilotsNWT #SoProudOfTheCrew pic.twitter.com/u6T7CFTe4w
— Mikey McBryan (@MikeyMcBryan) February 25, 2015
