LOUISBOURG, N.S. -- An Ellen DeGeneres superfan from Cape Breton is finally speaking out about his experience of a lifetime -- after having to keep it a secret for months.

Cody Kennedy was watching “Ellen’s Game of Games” -- the comedian’s popular game show -- when he had the idea that he should apply to be a contestant.

Then, he was surprised to receive a Facebook message from someone with the same idea.

“My junior high French teacher, Natalie MacIsaac, had inboxed me on Facebook and was like, ‘I’m watching this game show, Ellen’s Game of Games, and I think you’d be really great for it,’ and I’m like, ‘That’s so funny, because I’m watching it too and I’m thinking the exact same thing!”

So, the 26-year-old Louisbourg resident applied. Unfortunately, he didn’t get in, but that didn’t stop him from applying again for the next season.

“When I applied for season 3 I was like, ‘I think I might have a good chance this time,’” says Kennedy.

He was right.

Last March, he got the call he had been waiting for.

“I was getting ready for bed and I saw Burbank, California come up on my phone and I’m like no way!” he recalls.

The next hurdle was a Skype interview with producers from the TV show. They asked him to come to Hollywood, and Kennedy has a theory as to how he won them over.

“The Cape Breton charm. Something about, like, being from a small town, being Canadian,” he says. “I was really pushing, like, the small-town Cape Breton, the accent.”

Kennedy made the long flight to California, where he says he enjoyed the red-carpet treatment, before being ushered into Ellen Studios with the other contestants.

Not everyone would get to actually play, but Kennedy had a gut feeling he would be chosen.

“A sense that I will be playing a game today and I will be meeting Ellen,” he says.

The most surreal moment came when he went out on stage before the studio audience and came face-to-face with Ellen herself.

“I told her that I loved her and she’s like, ‘Oh I love you too.’ It was super quick, but it was great to hear that from her.”

Kennedy has had to keep his experience a secret for all these months, and he still isn’t sure when his episode will air.

When it does, he says his friends, family and fans “are in for a treat.”

“It’s quite hilarious, and I couldn’t believe what they had put me through, so they’re in for a real surprise.”

Still blown away that someone from Louisbourg could appear under the bright lights of Hollywood, Kennedy has a message to share with others.

“Believe that you can. I think it’s incredible, the support I’ve had from complete strangers, for just chasing a dream and going for it.”