Michael Wharton

Michael Wharton is a Canadian actor, DJ, promoter and businessman. He was the original actor to portray BadBoy on the MuchMusic variety show BadBoy's Choice. He was also the longest-tenured BadBoy, playing the character from June 1999 to November 1999, with his last appearance being the Big Shiny Tunes 4 Launch Party.

Early Life
Michael Wharton was born June 9, 1976 and was raised in the city of Scarborough. Growing up in a diverse neighbourhood, Wharton would grow to love dancehall and reggae and would eventually DJ at dancehall parties and soundclashes.

Developing BadBoy
In 1998, Mel Lastman witnessed Wharton deejaying at a party and the two quickly became friends. For the next few months, they worked on the BadBoy character for Lastman's BadBoy Furniture company. Wharton eventually signed a contract to play the character of BadBoy exclusively for the BadBoy Furniture Company.

Career as BadBoy
Wharton would originally portray the character at company events as "The BadBoy of BadBoy" and would also do in-person store appearances where he would spin a wheel for customers that had various prizes on the different sections, from discounts on furniture to free gifts and giveaways. By early spring 1999, Wharton and his BadBoy character had caught the attention of MuchMusic executives, who loved the character and were looking to feature him on a televised show to showcase popular music and artists. Len member Sharon Costanzo was an early fan and invited him along to the "Steal My Sunshine" video shoot where he can be seen in a brief shot. Although Wharton was responsible for developing many of the character's trademarks, he grew tired of BadBoy and came to see the show as commercial product with little artistic value. Crew members reported he would often call the show "stupid" and "a waste of time," and he quit in November to enrol in a business program at Ryerson University. ""I would rather just forget about BadBoy - it's terribly embarrassing for me and my family.""

- Michael Wharton

Post-BadBoy
Today, Michael Wharton lives in Scarborough and works as a stockbroker. He has three children and is divorced. His only media appearances since 1999 have been a single interview for a MuchMusic special in 2010 called "Your Favourite Late '90s VJs: Where Are They Now?" where he disowned the character, and before that in 2004 when he wrote a short piece for the Toronto Sun about his difficulty dating post 9/11, titling the article "Is 9/11 the reason for my dry spell?" He recounted to readers his experiences, and complained that when he tells his dates that he played BadBoy, they would often be confused, believing that he died on 9/11, having mistaken him for fellow BadBoy actor Rick DeSanto, who did in fact die that day. "It's really frustrating that people get the two of us confused," he wrote.