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Split Screen

CBC

Welcome to Split Screen, an examination of the utterly captivating, sometimes unsettling world of entertainment and pop culture. From reality TV gone awry, to the cult of celebrity, each season of Split Screen takes listeners on an evocative journey inside the world of showbiz. Ex-contestants, producers, and cultural critics uncover complicated truths behind TV’s carefully curated facades, and question what our entertainment reveals about us. Split Screen: sometimes reality is twisted.


Season 1 | Kid Nation: The true story behind one of reality TV’s most controversial experiments.

Season 2 | Thrill Seekers: A multi-million dollar media experiment. Would you fall for it?

Season 3 | Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Was the Canadian punk pop sensation replaced by a look-alike?

Season 4 | Bachelor of Buckingham Palace: The story behind one of the world’s most bizarre reality dating shows.

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  • 21 episodes
  • weekly
  • Avg 28 min
  • English

Episodes 21

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  • Tuesday · 39 min

    Split Screen Introduces: The Big Bet

    <p>How did sports betting go from being illegal to being EVERYWHERE? The answer lies in the convergence of daily fantasy sports apps, a bombshell New York Times op-ed, and the potential of a multi-billion dollar payout. This episode of <strong>Understood: The Big Bet </strong>tells the story of how a pivotal Supreme Court ruling set the stage for one of the biggest scandals in sports history — one involving a Toronto Raptors bench player named Jontay Porter.&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Unders

  • June 10 · 20 min

    Split Screen Introduces: Discount Dave (and the Fix)

    <p>Everyone has a party story. Host and creator of Personally: Discount Dave (and the Fix) Rebecca Auerbach’s involved in a run-in with rock icon David Lee Roth (you know, from Van Halen). At least, that's who he said he was. It’s Vancouver. 2005. Becca, a young actor who loves hard and parties harder gets her first big break at a Shakespeare Festival. She’s young, she’s having fun, party girls are FUNNNNN… Rehydrate, recuperate, recalibrate, repeat. But when her best friend goes on a date with

  • S4 · E6
    Dec 15, 2025 · 29 min

    Bachelor of Buckingham Palace, Episode 6: In Reality

    <p>&nbsp;’I Wanna Marry Harry’ makes its prime time debut. Things do not go as planned. Scott begins to question what we really mean when we call something “reality” TV?</p>

  • S4 · E2
    Nov 18, 2025 · 28 min

    Bachelor of Buckingham Palace, Episode 2: Fever Dream

    <p>Just whose idea was this anyway? And how did they intend to pull off such an absurd stunt? Scott needs answers. And he knows just who he needs to speak to. Danny Fenton — the creator of ‘I Wanna Marry Harry’.</p>

  • S4 · E1
    Nov 10, 2025 · 30 min

    Bachelor of Buckingham Palace, Episode 1: The Fairytale

    <p>Kimberly and Meghan audition for a secret new reality dating show. Producers won’t tell them anything about where they’ll be going, what they’ll be doing, or who they’ll be dating. What could possibly go wrong?</p>

  • S3 · E6
    Mar 10, 2025 · 33 min

    Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Episode 6: My Happy Ending

    <p>Joanne is back Canada… she has something she really needs to tell Avril. After months of digging – Joanne has finally tracked down the source of this rumour.</p><p><br></p><p>SO Avril DEFINITELY didn’t get replaced. That just wasn’t true. Which is great… but it does beg the question, who WAS Melissa?</p><p>Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Joanne McNally Investigates is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.</p><p><br></p><p>Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril La

  • S3 · E5
    Mar 3, 2025 · 32 min

    Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Episode 5: Wish You Were Here

    <p>Joanne was beginning to come to terms with the fact that this might all be nonsense. She turns her sights on who started this conspiracy. Where did it come from?</p><p>Joanne speaks to experts in online rumour spreading. She hears some extraordinary stories about how lies have gotten completely out of hand and become widely believed (to devastating effect.) Perhaps whoever started this had no idea it would go viral. We really should think more carefully about what we write on the internet…</p

  • S3 · E4
    Feb 24, 2025 · 34 min

    Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Episode 4: Don’t Tell Me

    <p>Joanne and her producer Sophie set up a war room with all of the evidence about Avril being replaced layed out. Her clothing, height, make up, song lyrics, voice.. it’s all there – being held up to the light. Joanne lines up some experts to prove once and for all if the Avril story is true.</p><p><br></p><p>Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.</p>

  • S3 · E3
    Feb 17, 2025 · 30 min

    Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Episode 3: Complicated

    <p>Avril’s career hit something of a bump in the road. At one point she appeared to fall off the radar completely, all while the rumours about her being replaced were swirling.</p><p><br></p><p>Can a fake death story literally kill your career? One man who knows is Dave Benson Phillips. He was a children’s TV presenter, on a path to great things. Until… he died. The TV offers dried up. His theatre tour got canceled. The impact on his life was immense. And Dave’s not the only one. Joanne hears ab

  • S3 · E2
    Feb 10, 2025 · 40 min

    Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Episode 2: Here’s to Never Growing Up

    <p>Joanne arrives in Napanee, Ontario – Avril’s hometown. She plunges into Avril’s early career. The young superstar-Avril was under a lot of scrutiny and pressure. Was she itching to step out of the spotlight?</p><p><br></p><p>Plus, Joanne learns body-doubles ARE a thing, and not just in the movies. Joanne chats with celebrity pal Joe Lycett – and he agrees having a body double would get them out of all sorts of engagements they don’t really want to do.</p><p><br></p><p>Split Screen: Who Replac

  • S3 · E1
    Feb 3, 2025 · 31 min

    Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? Episode 1: What The Hell?

    <p>Joanne LOVES conspiracy theories… and there’s one she can’t get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it.</p><p><br></p><p>Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.</p>

  • Jan 30, 2025 · 2 min

    Introducing | Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne?

    <p>Joanne McNally LOVES conspiracy theories… and there’s one she can’t get out of her head. Is it true that Avril Lavigne died, and was replaced by a body double? Joanne digs deep into the rumour mill, and the more she reads, the more she finds herself believing it. Available wherever you get your podcasts on February 3, 2025.</p><p><br></p><p>Split Screen: Who Replaced Avril Lavigne? is a 6-part series produced by What’s The Story Sounds – for BBC Sounds and CBC.</p>

  • S2 · E6
    Oct 28, 2024 · 34 min

    Thrill Seekers, Episode 6: Back to Earth

    <p>Space Cadets: where are they now? We learn how the contestants struggled to adapt to life after the show. We bring them together after 20 years, to finally reflect on how the show permanently warped their beliefs about the world around them.</p>

  • S2 · E5
    Oct 21, 2024 · 36 min

    Thrill Seekers, Episode 5: Spacewalk

    <p>Four cadets are sent to space and have a profound experience as they view the Earth from above. Back on the ground, producers scramble to find a satisfying end to the series, faced with a growing feeling that the reveal could be traumatic.</p>

  • S2 · E4
    Oct 14, 2024 · 25 min

    Thrill Seekers, Episode 4: Hoax TV

    <p>The reviews are rolling in, but they’re not what the crew were expecting. Psychologist Cynthia McVay examines whether the manipulations integral to reality TV can be ethical and asks if this show is too cruel for broadcast. Meanwhile, the cadets find out who will be going to space.</p>

  • S2 · E3
    Oct 7, 2024 · 32 min

    Thrill Seekers, Episode 3: Behind The Curtain

    <p>Before the cadets begin auditioning, a production team is hired to make the show. They too were sworn to secrecy as they were challenged to tackle a job they didn’t even think was possible.&nbsp;The set designers create an intricate world in order to fool the cadets and trick them out of their own reality.</p>

Showing 1–20 of 21 episodes