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Fired Comox Valley radio host finds a good home

By Debra Martin
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By Debra Martin

Record Staff

He was the most infamous radio personality in B.C. for about a month, just before the 2013 provincial election.

Justin “Drex” Wilcomes lost a job he loved at Courtenay’s Jet FM radio station (now the GOAT FM) for asking Premier Christy Clark if she minded being called a “MILF” - a lewd acronym referencing a mother’s sexual attractiveness.

Drex says, in hindsight, he probably shouldn’t have asked her that question, which was on behalf of a listener to his morning show. But, he said, he figured it would be OK since he was at a rock station, a format associated with an edgier style of broadcasting.

Clark’s response – that she’d rather be known as a MILF than a “cougar” - drew almost as much flak as the question. (A cougar is a slang term for an older woman chasing after younger men).

Drex thought at the time that the premier’s response was “hilarious.”

But the powers that be at his radio station didn’t.

The ill-fated radio interview came on Dec. 21, 2012. The day before Christmas the station suspended Drex for two weeks.

He spent the holiday season wondering if he would have a job when the suspension was over. And if he didn’t, his work permit for Canada would be in jeopardy since those are tied to contracts with specific employers.

Here for adventure

Drex was born in Brisbane, Australia and started working in radio at a young age in 1994.

When he turned 30 in 2009, he looked for a bit of travel and adventure, was offered a job with Vista Radio in Castlegar, B.C. and applied for a Canadian work visa.

He brought his nickname ‘Drex’ with him – a name his mother had given him as a teenager based on a conniving Klingon character from a Star Trek television series.

Soon he was the program director for Vista in Kelowna, and then was offered the group program director job for Vancouver Island, including Courtenay, Campbell River, Port Hardy and Powell River. The job also included hosting a morning show from 6-10.

Now, after the Clark interview, it was probably going to be over for good.

Premier offered to help

Drex had no contact with anyone from his station until Jan. 6 when he received an email asking him to come in early the next morning, before other employees arrived.

He was fired.

“I was devastated … I loved that job,” he recalled.

But as the old cliché goes, when one door closes, another one usually opens.

Within 12 hours, Drex received a call from CFOX FM in Vancouver offering him a job, which he accepted.

First day on the job, he received another phone call – this one from Premier Christy Clark.

“I apologized to her,” he said.

The premier offered any help she could give in getting his work contract transferred over to Corus (which owns CFOX and CKNW) so he could stay in the country. He ended up not needing that help but said he found her offer “quite humbling” and was “very grateful.”

Now at top talk news station

After working at CFOX on a ‘casual’ basis for a few months, he was given the night job for a year.

Now he’s on the mothership of talk news radio in the province, CKNW - ironically where Christy Clark once worked - hosting the afternoon “drive show” with Lynda Steele.

He was able at the time to get his work contract transferred to Corus Radio, is now a legal permanent resident of Canada and is eligible to apply for citizenship in November.

Drex turned 38 a few weeks ago. He still misses the Comox Valley a bit.

“I really enjoyed the job … I had a nice house. I was finally happy to settle,” he said.

No, Premier Christy Clark won’t do another interview with Drex, who says his job is to hold government to account, no matter the party. And when you’re talking politics, you’re bound to upset some people.

But he has one final radio message to the Comox Valley: “Get out and vote.”

Voter turnout in the province in 2013 was a dismal 57 per cent.

“We’re at a critical junction here. People need to make a decision,” he said.