The List: 10 things Brad Smith, current serial dater on The Bachelor Canada, can’t live without

1 | My university jersey
I had a tumultuous football career at Queen’s. I tore my hamstring in second year, and it took me a while to get back to form. This jersey is from my last year, when I went All-Canadian. It symbolizes everything university was to me—a process of self-discovery in athletics and in life.

2 | My first catch
In my first game playing for the Argos—my first game in the CFL—I was lucky enough to catch a pass from Damon Allen, one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the league. It was a great feeling, something I’d dreamed about since I was 12 years old. And I got to keep the ball.

3 | My other sport
I don’t watch football now that I’m not playing, but I never miss a Montreal Canadiens game. I would give anything—my five years in the CFL—to play just one shift in the NHL.

4 | My “Insanity” workout DVDs
I was sucked in by the infomercial, and it’s the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life. I throw up after every workout. Because it’s all cardio, it helps me stay lean. I don’t want to turn 30 and be at my football weight, hulking and with bad knees.

5 | My Nudie jeans
I was never a skinny jeans guy, because my legs were too big from football. But when I slimmed down a bit I tried these, and I never take them off. The best part is that I don’t have to wash them, because they’re raw denim.

6 | My poetry fix
Four years ago, a buddy and I took a road trip across the continent, and whenever I wasn’t driving I was reading Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. I was feeling emotional and introspective, so I really spent a lot of time with his words, trying to relate to his life story.

7 | My guiltiest pleasure
Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwiches are the only thing in life I absolutely crave. I’ve been eating them since I was a kid. I’m there at least once a week. On a bad week I’ll eat one every day. I’m not proud of it, but I do it.

8 | My favourite photo
It’s of me and my mom on the football field at St. Andrew’s in Aurora. I got an athletic scholarship to go there in Grade 11. My parents, who lived in Montreal, came to every single game. I think they missed three games in my entire professional career. If I were a janitor, they’d probably come watch me clean floors.

9 | My hurtin’ tunes
I love depressing female songwriters who sing about being torn up about love. I was big into Sarah McLachlan growing up. Now it’s Missy Higgins, an Australian singer who never made it huge here but who’s just so soulful.

10 | My favourite movie
I love everything about Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet: the cinema­tography, the acting, the soundtrack. I first saw it when I was 16, and I thought Leonardo DiCaprio was so cool with his slicked-back hair.

(Images: Liam Mogan)