When Cindy De Rosario received a message saying she’d won a trip to Barbados, her first reaction wasn’t celebration — it was disbelief.
“I still don’t even believe that it’s real,” she said, still in awe. “There are so many scams out there, I honestly thought, ‘This can’t be happening.’ I went back and read the rules and regulations, checked to make sure Brandon’s page wasn’t hacked — all of it.”
The Brandon Gonez show in partnership with Visit Barbados recently held a giveaway where 1 special winner could win an all paid trip to Barbados and well the results are in.
Cindy, a Toronto mother of four, was announced as the winner of a surprise getaway to Barbados. She told us that the win came after a conversation with her best friend just hours earlier.
“We had an event at work, so I didn’t check my messages until around 10:30 p.m.,” Cindy explained. “After the event, I was talking to my best friend — she said, ‘You and your husband need a trip. You deserve it.’ I got emotional. And then on the way home, I saw the message from Brandon.”
“I called my best friend, who’s also a lawyer, and I said, ‘Girl, get on — is this for real?’ She said, ‘We spoke this into existence.’ And honestly, I think we did.”
This will be the first-ever solo trip for Cindy and her husband in their 17 years of marriage. Together, they’ve raised four children — ages 17, 14, 10, and 7 — and every vacation until now has been a full family affair.
“Everything we do is for our kids. We love it, but we’ve never had a trip alone. So when I saw the contest, I thought, ‘Why not? Let me try.’ I never enter contests — never — but this time, something just told me to go for it.”
Cindy’s love for Caribbean music, particularly soca legend Alison Hinds, made the contest feel even more personal.
Even now, her husband remains skeptical. “He still doesn’t believe it,” Cindy laughed. “He keeps asking, ‘Are you sure?’ These things just don’t happen to us.”
This will be Cindy’s first visit to Barbados, and she’s looking forward to soaking it all in. “I can’t wait for the beaches, the sand, the water, and especially the people. I have close friends who are Bajan — they’re the most beautiful people. I’m also excited for the rum tour. I’m a rum drinker!” she added with a laugh.
When asked if she knows how to “wine,” Cindy responded with Caribbean pride: “My parents are Guyanese. We listen to a lot of soca and calypso, so yes, I do know how to wine. But I will not wine for you — not yet! I’ll wine in Barbados and send you the video.”
Above all, Cindy expressed deep gratitude for the opportunity.
“I just want to say thank you — to Brandon Gonez, to Visit Barbados, to everyone involved. I would have never been able to take this vacation without it. Thank you, thank you, thank you — a million times over.”
