Fri June 9

Fri June 9, 2000

Where are the Degrassi
High kids now?

Web site can tell you,
exactly
Fan page lists dozens of sightings of cast
members

Andrew Matte
National Post

Snake was spotted dining with a lady friend on Queen Street West, and Wheels
is working at a Money Mart in Hamilton. And Spike was seen renting movies at a
Toronto Blockbuster.

This is big news to fans of Degrassi High, the long-ago-cancelled CBC teen
drama that’s been attracting a new generation of fans thanks to reruns.

Sharon Mulholland of Toronto is the keeper the Degrassi “sightings
site,” a massive list of fan spottings of the show’s actors.

“There have been so many Snake sightings on Queen Street lately,”
Ms. Mulholland, 24, says. “He must live in the area.”

The idea for the page (http://www3.sympatico.ca/shortgirl/update.html) came
four years ago after Ms. Mulholland learned how to make and upload her own Web
site.

It began as a lark, an admittedly campy tribute to the show. Soon after the
site’s launch, the number of e-mails from fans who’ve spotted cast members,
most of whom still live in Toronto or nearby, quickly escalated.

Her site logs about 60 hits per day, and she usually receives two e-mails
from fans who’ve had a brush with Joey, Caitlin, Tessa or any other of the
dozen or so main characters.

“Laura saw Joey at Fairview Mall, Toronto, on Friday, May 12th. He was
with girl, going to see a movie,” one sighting report reads.

Another says, “Stephanie spotted Snake exiting the Lava Lounge club in
Toronto a few months ago, and also was in a class with Stephanie at York
University.”

The site has generated some controversy, however.

Last summer, police laid charges against an Australian man accused of
stalking Sara Ballingall, the actress who played the character Melanie.
“She’s the only cast member who’s called me. She asked me not to put up
any sightings of her. And of course, I respect that fully. If anyone else asks,
I would take their sightings down, too,” she said.

Ms. Mulholland also refuses to post sightings she knows are false or are in
bad taste. One sighting she didn’t post was from a fan who said she spotted
Joey (actor Pat Mastroianni) performing in a strip club. Mr. Mastroianni, who
lives in North York, said it was untrue.

“It’s good she didn’t put that one up,” Mr. Mastroianni said.

Still, he likes the site and confirms that most of the “Joey
sightings” — like when he visited the casino in Hull, Que., or when he
was spotted in a restaurant making wedding plans with his fiancee — are true.

“At first, I thought it was kind of creepy,” Mr. Mastroianni said.
“It’s weird that somebody is staring at me and then I don’t even know it.
But the fact that somebody out there is doing this is pretty cool.”