Shania Twain Reveals She 'Loved' Working at McDonald's Before She Was Famous

Antonia DeBianchi
·3 min read
Shania Twain Worked at McDonald’s Before She Was Famous: ‘I Loved the Drive-Thru'
Shania Twain Worked at McDonald’s Before She Was Famous: ‘I Loved the Drive-Thru'

Andreas Rentz/Getty, Getty

Shania Twain is a natural on stage — and at the drive-thru!

On Friday, the country-pop singer revealed to ET Canada that she worked at McDonald's and learned lasting lessons while she was an employee.

"I worked at McDonald's in several departments, but I loved the drive-thru," she told the outlet during the "One-on-One with Shania Twain" special.

Her customer-facing job allowed her to hone in on the upbeat stage presence she's known for today.

"I always love, like, 'Welcome to McDonald's, can I take your order please?' It's just very quite rhythmic, and I like to serve. I like to make people happy," she said. "The drive-thru was always particularly fun because you could speak to the people on the other side without seeing them."

She added: "I like good service, and, you know, I learned a lot of that at McDonald's."

The country singer admitted that juggling her part-time gig wasn't easy as she was "on stage at night on the weekends" and at McDonald's after school on the weekdays.

Twain's favorite Golden Arches menu item is a classic — the French fries. "I eat them now without animal fat," said Twain, a devoted vegetarian. (McDonald's fries in Canada are cooked in vegetable oil, unlike in the U.S. where they are cooked in oil with beef flavoring.)

While a McDonald's employee, she enjoyed making the fries herself, too. "My favorite station outside of the drive-thru was the fry station. I just love to make the perfect fry. You know, the kind you see on TV."

Twain is an avid cook still. Last month, she joined Eric Ripert on Today to make a vegetarian bolognese and the two swapped cooking tips throughout the segment.

Twain said to ET Canada that her work at the fast food giant was also just another gig that taught her how much she liked staying busy, no matter what the role.

"I think I've enjoyed all my jobs. I can be honest about that. I like to work; I like to be busy," she said.

RELATED: McDonald's Is Testing Strawless Lids as Part of 'Ongoing Global Commitment to Reduce Waste'

Shania Twain visits Bauer Media
Shania Twain visits Bauer Media

Nicky J Sims/Getty Images Shania Twain

The Grammy Award-winning singer juggled an array of responsibilities in her youth.

Last month, on the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast, she recalled attending a "computer programming" school in Toronto at 22 years old, where she was working on a "backup plan" in case her singing career didn't take off.

It was at one of these classes that she learned the news of her parents' death.

"My sister had called me and told me that they died in a car accident. I just, you know, I fell apart totally, just into shock for days, and I just couldn't let go of them," said the Grammy winner, who's previously spoken candidly about growing up in poverty.

RELATED: Shania Twain Says She 'Lost a Very Important Foundation' Upon Her Parents' Death in 1987 Car Crash

"I lost a very important foundation. As rickety as it was, it was still a foundation," continued Twain. "My whole life history was there, with them, and many of the associations fell along the way, away, after my parents died. It was so true that so much of my life was stemming from them being in my life — the good and the bad."

Following the tragedy, Twain assumed the role of raising her three younger siblings. "My kids — I call them that often. I know they're not mine, but I say that," she explained, noting that her eldest sister was "very, very busy" with her own marriage and two children.

"My younger sister was still living at home, and my two younger brothers were still, you know, 13 and 14 years old," she added. "We all agreed that they shouldn't be separated. But no relatives were able to take both of them in. So, the only way to keep them together was for us to stay together."

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories

  • NCAA approves helmet communication, sideline tablets, two-minute warning for college football

    The NCAA approved the use of helmet communiation devices and sideline tablets for college football next season. Additionally, a two-minute warning will be incorporated into gameplay.

  • UPDATE 1-Mexico's Slim eyes $7.7 billion investment in Brazil in coming years

    Mexican magnate Carlos Slim is considering investing more than 40 billion reais ($7.70 billion) in Brazil in the coming years, he said on Friday, after meeting with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Brasilia. Slim, whose family controls telecommunications giant America Movil, said the investments would be made in Brazil's 5G and fiber-optic networks. America Movil-owned Claro is a huge player in the South American country's telecom sector.

  • Initiative 'led by survivors to uncover the truth'

    THUNDER BAY – Residential school survivors gathered at a hotel on Highway 61 this week to discuss their experiences and how the Bringing Our Children Home Initiative should move forward. The initiative, also named Bikiiwewinig Nindawaashishiiminaanak, is investigating the possibility of unmarked graves where the Pelican Lake Indian Residential School once operated. Bringing Our Children Home “was created and led by survivors to uncover the truth,” Lac Seul Chief Clifford Bull said Thursday durin

  • 70s and low 80s expected for weekend

    70s and low 80s expected for weekend

  • Fed says 1,804 banks and other institutions tapped emergency lending facility

    About 95% of the borrowers, which included banks, credit unions, savings associations, and branches and agencies of foreign banks, had less than $10 billion in assets, the U.S. central bank said in its semi-annual Financial Stability Report. The Bank Term Funding Program, as it was called, was aimed at addressing a liquidity crunch after a run on deposits led to the failures of SVB and Signature Bank and forced financial authorities to stage a rescue of the sector.

  • Port Moody honours Robert Simons with Freedom of the City award

    Before Wednesday night, it would have been hard to describe Robert Simons in a short sentence. The long-time Port Moody resident has served as a volunteer, committee member, board member, provincial appointee, vice-president and president of a dizzying amount of community, academic and non-profit organizations. Port Moody bestowed Simons with the highest honour it can give a resident on April 17, awarding him the Freedom of the City medal along with a key to the city. “My last love is giving bac

  • US State Dept 'fully expects' to finalize new AUKUS trade exemptions in next 120 days

    The U.S. State Department said on Friday it fully expects to finalize new trade exemptions for the AUKUS defense project with Australia and Britain over the next 120 days. "Exemptions in our export control systems, within a framework of shared standards with Australia and the UK, are key to harnessing and maximizing the innovative power residing in our defense industrial bases," the department said in a statement. "We fully expect to finalize the new trade exemptions – based on stakeholder input – over the course of the next 120 days," it said.

  • The Latest | Judge agrees to seal 4 pieces of evidence in hush money trial

    NEW YORK (AP) — A jury of 12 people and six alternates was seated on Friday in former President Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case. The completion of jury selection sets the stage for opening statements in the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president to begin Monday, as well as weeks of testimony in a case charging Trump with falsifying business records to suppress stories about his sex life emerging in the final days of the 2016 election. The jury includes a sales professional,

  • Former Wales winger Leighton James dies, aged 71

    He had three spells at Burnley, helped hometown club Swansea in to the top tier of English football and won 54 caps for his country.

  • Cambridge college cuts ties with philosophy fellow who sparked race row

    A college at the University of Cambridge has cut ties with a philosophy fellow who sparked a race row.

  • N.B. environment minister resigns, citing political differences with Higgs's Tories

    FREDERICTON — New Brunswick’s environment minister quit on Friday, citing political differences with the Progressive Conservative government led by Premier Blaine Higgs. Gary Crossman announced his decision on social media, saying that after 10 years representing the Saint John-area riding of Hampton, he has to prioritize his health. “My personal and political beliefs no longer align in many ways with the direction of our party and government,” Crossman wrote. He did not specify which of his bel

  • Fed report cites inflation, US election as key financial stability risks

    Persistent inflation and higher-for-longer interest rates were cited as key risks to financial stability in the Federal Reserve's latest survey of U.S. central bank contacts, with geopolitical troubles and the 2024 U.S. presidential election also mentioned as "a potentially significant source of shocks." "Contacts noted several areas of uncertainty including trade policy and other foreign policy issues related to escalating geopolitical tensions," the Fed said on Friday in its semi-annual survey of 25 market participants, academics and other contacts. The survey results were included as part of the Fed's latest Financial Stability Report, which looks at issues like leverage and risk-taking throughout the economy to try to identify potential trouble spots.

  • Private schools may have been included in Cambridge University scheme for deprived teens

    Private school pupils may have been flagged for inclusion in a Cambridge University scheme designed to help deprived teenagers, an investigation has found.

  • Nvidia Sinks, Exposing 8 'Secrets' For When To Sell Stocks

    As top growth stocks like Nvidia fall below key moving averages, keep in mind these proven rules for when to sell stocks.

  • Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department – live updates: What critics and fans are saying

    Pop star shares message with fans from Instagram as fans celebrate new album release, with many noticing several lyrical references to The 1975’s Matty Healy along with her ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn

  • Forget Tesla. Top Funds Love This Non-Mag 7 AI Giant.

    As Tesla tanks, top funds bet big on AI leader Broadcom stock, as well as Nvidia and Google. But market pressures rise.

  • Middle East escalation could push oil up $50 a barrel

    STORY: Oil settled slightly higher on Friday, but posted a weekly decline, after Iran played down a reported Israeli attack on its soil, a sign that an escalation of hostilities in the Middle East might be avoided.Oil benchmarks spiked more than $3 a barrel earlier in the session after explosions were heard in the Iranian city of Isfahan in what sources described as an Israeli attack. Bernstein says if escalations were to continue "it will create enormous uncertainty for oil and the ability to get it, especially in the Strait of Hormuz, in the Middle East."

  • Stock market today: Tech stocks smoked, Nvidia tumbles 10% to cap worst week of the year

    A measure of calm was returning after Israel's retaliatory strike on Iran spooked the market and spurred a rush to safe havens such as gold.

  • Polish leader tells B.C. audience NATO allies need to spend more on defence

    VANCOUVER — Poland's president says members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, including Canada, must raise defence spending to three per cent of GDP to deter Russia's war in Ukraine from spreading. Andrzej Duda made the comments at a speech in Vancouver on Friday, a day ahead of his meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. While not saying Canada by name, Duda says the West has "a lot of gaps" in its industrial base to produce military aid for Ukraine in its defence against Russia, a

  • Ryan Garcia misses weight for Devin Haney showdown as world title hopes vanish

    Fight remains on, but Garcia can no longer win Haney’s WBC light-welterweight title and will also pay rival $1.5m