Curling royalty ready to rock Grand Slam broadcast booth

The Grand Slam of Curling’s new broadcast booth could use its own trophy case.

Brad Gushue, Jennifer Jones, Joanne Courtney and Brent Laing are trading sweeping calls for television calls this season, giving The Curling Group a heavyweight collection of analysts with 56 Grand Slam titles among them.

Darren Dupont and John Cullen will handle hosting and play-by-play duties when the five-event season begins Oct. 13 in Victoria.

Gushue is the biggest new voice. The Olympic gold and bronze medallist, world champion and 15-time Grand Slam winner will make his full-time analyst debut after retiring from competitive curling in March.

He knows every inch of championship ice, every uncomfortable timeout and every way a skip can disguise panic while pretending to study angles.

Now viewers get to hear what he sees without waiting for the post-game handshake.

Gushue has stayed busy since hanging up his broom. He became USA Curling’s high-performance director in May and now adds television work to his new life outside competitive play.

Jones returns with an Olympic gold medal, two world championships, six Canadian titles and 17 Grand Slam victories on her résumé.

Courtney, an eight-time Slam winner, captured Canadian and world championships in 2017 and has become one of curling’s most familiar broadcast voices since leaving elite competition.

Laing brings three world championships and 16 Grand Slam titles. He moves into the main GSOC booth after two seasons providing streaming commentary on Rock Channel.

Put their Slam totals together and the analysts arrive at 56 — enough championship experience to spot a missed peel, questionable freeze or dangerous piece of backing before most viewers have finished reaching for the remote.

If competitive credentials translate into colourful commentary, the coming season should sound almost as entertaining as it looks on the ice.

Dupont makes his GSOC debut after calling football, hockey and curling.

Cullen, a former competitive curler and award-winning podcaster, joined the circuit’s Rock Channel coverage in 2024 and made his live television debut during the Rock League on CBC last spring.