Darrin Maharaj is a Canadian television Host, Reporter and Video Journalist. He was born in Toronto, Ontario with parents hailing from the islands of Trinidad and Tobago. Over the years Darrin has seen it all – from posing for the legendary Karl Lagerfeld to travelling with the Royals and chatting with some of the biggest names in entertainment.
He has also seen a serious side of news coverage reporting on ISIS and the Papal coronation of Pope Francis, just a few of his many assignments for ZNEWS which airs nationally in over 10 million homes on VisionTV, ONE: The Body, Mind, Spirit & Love Channel, JoyTV, HOPETV, ClassicalFM 96.3, 102.9 & 103.1FM, and ZoomerRadio on AM740 & 96.7FM
Darrin was voted one of Vancouver’s most Eligible Bachelors by the Vancouver Sun.
At 19, Darrin volunteered his time at the community radio station CKWR 98.7 fm in Waterloo, Ontario. He started in the midnight till 4am time slot which quickly became the weekend’s primetime feature with Darrin and his DJ partner Eric Lohrenz (Lupe) as “The 2 Youts” featuring the best in hip-hop, reggae and electronic music. Soon the “youts” were interviewing some of the hottest stars on the music scene from The Beastie Boys to Moby just to name a few. Enrollment at the School of Broadcast Journalism at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario followed.
Upon graduation Maharaj was fortunate to land a job immediately in television. After a few months of general reporting Darrin quickly made the transition to become the “Entertainment Videographer” for the The New VR in Barrie, Ontario (now CTVtwo) working, not only as the reporter and host, but as the camera operator, editor and producer of his daily stories.
This role took him all across North America and put him in many a strange situation from interviewing top stars like John Travolta and Mel Gibson to wrestling Crocodiles at Gatorland in Florida to skydiving, rock climbing and more.
In 2002 Darrin was asked to help launch CityTV (CKVU) in Vancouver as their Entertainment Specialist. On the first day CityTV went to air, Darrin was sent to interview BC beauty Pamela Anderson at her home in Malibu, California. While there, the young broadcaster caught the eye of world renowned designer and photographer Karl Lagerfeld who was on hand to photograph Pamela and ended up putting Darrin in the front seat of her Viper for an impromptu photo session. Aside from co-anchoring 10 news casts per week, Darrin hosted live cut-ins and season finales for popular programs like ABC’s “The Bachelor” and “America’s Next Top Model”.
After serving almost four years at CityTV Vancouver, Darrin returned to Toronto as host of “Inside Jam!” and co-host of the daily news program “Canoe-Live” on SunTV.
In January 2007 Darrin left SunTV and rejoined his old friend and mentor Moses Znaimer as a host and reporter for his production company MZTV where he helped launch TELUSTV as the face of their new IPTV television Network and host of “Apartment 15” on Channel 15. Today Darrin works primarily as a Video Journalist and Host for ZNews which airs on several ZoomerMedia Properties including VisionTV, ONE: The Body, Mind, Spirit & Love Channel, JoyTV, HOPETV, ClassicalFM 96.3, 102.9 & 103.1FM, and ZoomerRadio on AM740 & 96.7FM
Darrin also continues to explore the world of acting. He has appeared in several television series and feature films including “Nikita”, “Beauty and the Beast”, “XIII: The Series”, “The Exorcism Of Emily Rose” and worked closely with award winning director Antoine Fuqua on his role in the film “Shooter” starring Mark Wahlberg.