Beloved gardening expert and weatherman Frank Ferragine — better known as “Frankie Flowers” — is retiring from Citytv’s Breakfast Television at the end of the month, ending a two-decade run on the program and bringing even more change to the popular morning show that just introduced two new hosts in March.
In an announcement on air Wednesday morning, Ferragine said he wanted to spend more time on the “things that ground me most” — his two sons, his family and his garden.
“Toronto traffic has a lot to do with it, too,” joked Ferragine, who commutes about an hour from his home in Bradford, Ont.
“The experiences I’ve had over the last two decades are so wonderful,” Ferragine told hosts Dina Pugliese and Tim Bolen. “I really think it’s important for somebody else to shine in this spotlight.”
Ferragine started on Breakfast Television in February 2005 as a weather and garden specialist. Pugliese said she met Ferragine in 2006.
“He’s exactly who you would hope and exactly the same guy on air as he is off air,” Pugliese said Wednesday. “Everybody just adores you because of the sunshine you put out every single day.”
Ferragine’s last day at Breakfast Television will be May 30, although he said he will still return for segments and be active on social media.
Off air, he said he’s excited to spend more time with his two sons — one of whom is training in Whistler for freestyle skiing — and, of course, sleep in.
Breakfast Television has seen significant turnover this year, with hosts Meredith Shaw and Sid Seixeiro abruptly exiting the program in February. The show is also facing the same headwinds that are being felt across television, with fewer and fewer people tuning in as other entertainment competes for their attention.
“If a company was smart, it’s still something that could grow,” former longtime Breakfast Television host Kevin Frankish told the Star in February. “It’s still not completely impacted by the fact that people can get their news elsewhere.”
Breakfast Television unveiled Pugliese and Bolen in March as the show’s new hosts, while simultaneously moving the set from Sankofa Square at the intersection of Yonge and Dundas streets to the Rogers Campus on Bloor Street East.
In leaving Breakfast Television, Ferragine said he would miss the people, and the viewers, the most.
“I feel like we’ve grown up together,” Ferragine said. “You’ve seen my kids grow up, you’ve seen me grow up. You’ve seen me go through hair growth and hair loss.”
“It’s just been a wonderful journey.”
