Trish Stratus, the Toronto native, best known for her time with WWE, has signed on to be the host of the popular sketch-comedy troupe’s new talent search program, The Second City’s Next Comedy Legend, which will air on CBC.

The involvement with Second City is Stratus’ second large-scale go-around with the company. Stratus, who has also worked with sketch comedy troupes The Royal Canadian Air Farce and MadTV, did a series of performances at Second City’s Toronto theatre while rehabbing from a thumb injury in 2004.

The show, as Stratus explains, will have a similar format to America’s Next Top Model, with a taped format and the judges making all the cuts. For her part, Stratus will take the “Tyra Banks” role on the show as host and liaison between the judges and finalists. While we may not see Trish rolling around on the floor of a makeup room, crying after her locks get trimmed with garden shears, she says that you may see a bit of the supermodel in Stratus’ on-screen performance.

“Because it’s Second City, there will be a satirical twist to it,” Stratus comments, adding that she may pull a Banks and show up with a different hair-do every show, “just to poke fun at that.”

The finalists will be chosen from four cities across Canada (two from each city will advance to the show) — Vancouver on March 20, Calgary on March 24, Halifax on March 27 and Toronto on April 4 (audition forms are available online). Stratus herself would not be surprised at all to see a crowd of wrestling fans at the try-outs, if history plays any part in it……