For many stay-at-home moms, Citytv’s weekday 9am lifestyle show CityLine is a  morning staple, with topics on food, entertaining, décor, fashion, beauty, parenting, health and fitness. The show, now in its 25th year, was originally  hosted by Dini Petty, followed by Marilyn Denis, who was at the helm for 19 years.

So when Denis’s long run as the show’s host came to a close in May of 2008,  viewers were all abuzz on who would take over one of local television’s most  popular programs. CityLine had come to be so closely identified with Denis that  whoever took the reins would inevitably be compared with her.

The summer of 2008  saw the several on-air personalities familiar to Citytv viewers take turns as  guest hosts – including Dina Pugliese, Jennifer Valentyne, Liz West and Nalini  Sharma. However, when it came to deciding on CityLine’s permanent chair, the  network turned to Breakfast Television news reporter Tracy Moore, who had  herself guesthosted CityLine for a week.

Moore vividly recalls that day in  October 2008 when she was told she had been selected to take over as the new  face of CityLine.

“They called me to a meeting, and I thought this is either the  big kiss-off or I got the job. With a whole summer of auditions, a full week by  myself… it could have gone either way. There were some really good candidates. 

“So when they told me I got the job, I yelled! I was so happy!” she exclaims. 

“At the time they offered me the job, I didn’t really know how great an  opportunity it was, but now that I’m in it, and you see the night and day  difference between news and lifestyle,” Moore adds.

The official announcement  was made on October 17, 2008; Moore’s inaugural broadcast as CityLine host  followed 10 days later.

A vivacious , confident personality, Richmond Hill- raised Moore said she felt no pressure about taking over from Marilyn Denis. “If  I woke up every morning and thought this is Marilyn’s show, I would feel  debilitated. I would have not been able to come in and get it done,” says Moore. 

“Yes, I had a lot to learn, and you don’t go in knowing it all. I had to go into  it with a huge learning curve. With any new job, I look forward to the learning.  You want to be so comfortable, you want to know the space, the back alleys, and  the door that leads there, and that’s how I felt about the show,” she added. 

“It’s a sink or swim business so they just threw me out there. You learn your  way around, you can’t be taught. Marilyn wasn’t taught, she learned her way  through and that’s how I’m going through it.”

With a Masters in journalism from  University of Western Ontario, a major in Political Science from McGill  University and ten years in the industry, Moore was not new to TV.

Even though CityLine was a new format for her, with a studio audience, taping,  interacting with guest experts etc., she said she did not feel intimidated at  all. She says she did not look at it as filling in Denis’s shoes, but rather as an opportunity to do her own show, a lifestyle program that would be relevant to  her personally and professionally. She had just become a new mother and recently  bought a house so all the topics featured on the show were of interest to her and her life.

Watching a taping of a recent show, Moore comes across as  completely comfortable, like CityLine has been her show forever. She is  effervescent, funny, glowing and friendly and welcomes her audience almost  immediately. She interacts with her audience both on and off camera.

Says Moore:  “Most of our audience is coming in from the 905 area… from all over the GTA  really, and some from out of province. A television set can be intimidating for  many, so I encourage people to be rowdy, casual, ask questions and be  themselves. I want people to feel comfortable.”

Moore is married to Lionel (Lio)  Perron whom she met early in her career at CBC. The couple have a twoyear- old  son, Sidney, with a second child on the way.

With such a young family, how easy  is it to manage a high-profile television career, I wondered. Moore readily  admits is not really possible to achieve a work-life balance every day. 

“Sometimes home is more demanding, sometimes work demands more of my time and I  just go with what feels right. The demands change constantly so I have to be  flexible.

“Balance is not the right word to use… I call it the daily struggle,  but not in a negative way. I think I have to reconcile that something or someone  is going to lose; sometimes my husband loses and or my job loses or my kid  loses. I’m not going to try and balance things because I think that’s too much  pressure. I’m just going to try to make sure both sides (home and career) win  the same number of times.”

She affectionately describes her husband as “a career  counsellor, therapist, co-parent… he’s the guy I bounce everything off of, and I  do the same thing for him. And although he’s had a harder life than me, he’s  wonderful as a dad and a great partner.”

A typical day for Moore starts with a  5am workout, then it’s home to shovel down some breakfast and spend some time  with her son.

“When I spent time with Sidney, I noticed it would calm him down,”  she says. “So now I focus my attention on him, getting him ready and having some  Mommy time before I drop him off to daycare.”

She heads out to work by 8am.  Moore’s job entails promo work on Breakfast Television before the taping of  CityLine begins.

“Then from 9:30 on, I prepare for the show, meet and greet the  audience, and speak ahead of time to those with questions that will be featured during the show.”

On the set, Moore is as relaxed as one might be in their home  speaking with girlfriends over coffee. She jokes with the audience, she sits on  the floor, she walks around to talk to people, and she really gets into every  aspect of the content of the show.

Every weekday has its own special features,  but Moore says that she doesn’t have a favourite day of the week. “When I  started, it was all about Fashion Fridays; now we got a new house and I love the  home day… the décor element has been my biggest growth area. I like Mondays, you  get a little about everything…cooking, gardening etc. Every day is different and  I’m learning so much. I’m going through what the audience – stay-athome moms –  are going through; the show is a really good fit for me.”

Moore leaves work  around 2pm, after which she picks up Sidney at daycare. “Then we’re just hanging  out,” she says.

Although Moore leads a hectic lifestyle, she says she has people  around her who ensure she always has her feet on the ground.

“My mom and my make-up artist keep me grounded. I don’t think anything lasts forever. I try to  not take anything work related for granted. My philosophy is enjoy it while  you’re in it because it’s not going to be like thisall the time.”

Her second  child is due in August, and she already has her plans set out.

“I think I will  be less crazy as a mom. The first time I was sleep deprived, it was a never  ending wheel of feedings and getting your baby to sleep. I’m going to be a  little less humourless this time. With the first, it was about planning and  structure and I realized that it gets in the way. Babies don’t care about  planning and structure.”

Moore says that as far as her kids are concerned, her  legacy will have nothing to do with her career, but rather her relationship with  them as a mother. “I’m not the wily, street smart girl… some people at work call  me Pollyanna,” she says.

What advice did she have for young women or men wanting  a career in television or broadcast journalism, we asked her.

“Volunteer, do  stuff for free,” said Moore. “It doesn’t matter if you want to be in print,  radio or television, just volunteer. Start with small local papers or campus  radio (like they have at) York University or U of T… that’s how you can learn  what you like. Go to Shaw or Rogers, go get water for the hosts… and while  there, see if that’s what you would like to pursue.

“The other thing, use those  computer skills… video blogging, text blogging and tweeting. It’s important to  parlay them into other skills they can use in their career,” says Moore,  revealing that she herself volunteered at the campus radio station where she got  hooked on broadcast journalism.

She says she didn’t have a specific TV  personality she wanted to model herself on (“I wanted to be me”), and thought  she might even work for US networks ABC or NBC as an anchor. “I came close to  working for ABC’s London bureau, but it fell apart at the last minute and then  life took an unexpected turn and now it’s lifestyle.”

Moore was recently  profiled by Hello! Canada magazine as one of the top 25 beautiful people in  Canada. Although she sometimes prefers jogging pants and a T-shirt, she  understands her work life demands a polished appearance. In an industry where  superficial beauty appears to be the deciding factor on the way to stardom,  Moore is doing more than fine.

As far as her take on the future of CityLine, she  says: “I feel the show will continue to evolve as we get more comfortable in our  new space here at Dundas Square.” She is positive about the show’s future and as  much as there is always pressure to keep the ratings up, producing a good  product is equally important.

CityLine audiences have embraced Tracy Moore as  much as she has enjoyed taking over at the helm. Will it be 19 years before she  moves on? “Who knows” she says. “I’ll never say never.”