ERIN – An Erin man born with achondroplasia dwarfism has faced a life of overcoming challenges and wanted one more.
So he landed on The Amazing Race Canada and he brought his best friend along for the ride.
John Ferguson, a 26-year-old born in Erin, was recently announced as a one of the contestants on season 10 of The Amazing Race Canada along with teammate Connor Carroll of Pickering.
In a joint interview, Ferguson recalled growing up in Erin on a 60-acre farm with horses, rabbits and two Newfoundlander dogs that were the size of him.
“In the country was the greatest situation that I could have had considering I grew up little,” Ferguson said. “It was a great situation for someone who’s very unique like myself because automatically I lived in an environment where everyone knew that I was small and I didn’t really need to explain over and over why I’m small or how it happened.”
Ferguson went to McMaster University in Hamilton living in residence and lived on the same floor as Carroll.
“I was dating sort of my high school sweetheart at the time and John and I first crossed paths in the elevator and he was hitting on my girlfriend,” Carroll said.
From there, they ended up bonding naturally by living on the same floor and hanging out with everyone who lived there whether it be partying or the nightly Texas hold ‘em games. They would remain friends beyond university and consider each other brothers.
It was in fourth year when Ferguson had his early start in content creation and comedy with a video prank where Carroll lifted Ferguson into a washing machine to surprise their friend.
“He opened up the washing machine and there was a little man in there, obviously you don’t assume there would be, and that ended up receiving over 20 million views on Vine,” Ferguson said.
Now, Feguson has amassed millions of views and followers across his social media platforms and often gets recognized, although he said he was used to people looking at him.
“I would wingman him (Connor) really well because the ladies would recognize me and I throw him the old alley-oop,” Ferguson said.
“When John was taking off in the early days and we were still at McMaster, I don’t think we waited in a lineup at a bar ever,” Carroll added.
“They are looking at him a lot when I believe they’re looking at me but they’re just looking at him because he’s a handsome-ass man,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson was the first to look into applying for The Amazing Race Canada as he said he likes to do things that in theory should not be a great fit for him such as a show which requires physical activity, being fast and no phone or internet access.
“I thought why not, like I went through my whole life challenged … so I looked at this it’s just another way to challenge myself,” Ferguson said.
He wasn’t sure who he would take with him right away but it clicked that his best friend Carroll would be the perfect fit.
“He’s handsome, charming and he’s extremely physically active,” Ferguson said.
Ferguson also saw the show as an opportunity to showcase what little people are capable of physically and mentally.
“I owe it to that community who has supported me through my whole career and even at a young age,” Ferguson said. “I hope after seeing the show that it helps open up a lot of eyes and it shines a lot of light on the little people community.”
Carroll’s main driver was an “adventure of a lifetime” that few people get to experience, to grow his friendship with Ferguson and to step out of his comfort zone.
Filming has since finished but the pair were not allowed to talk about their time on the show yet.
“Stay tuned because Johnny and I are going to be putting on a show in season 10 of The Amazing Race Canada,” Carroll said.
