His mother raised the three children primarily by herself with the help of her own mother who lived with them. When Andrew was thirteen, right around the time his mother was diagnosed with cancer, his grandmother died. After multiple operations, his mother finally succumbed to the disease six years later. Andrew was nineteen.

As a small child Andrew always knew he wanted to act. Unfortunately, his dream was sidetracked as dreams often are and it took almost forty years to find it again. Along the way he worked on the oil rigs in northern Alberta, became a journeyman communications electrician, sold menswear in several different stores, had a short stint as a model in Calgary and Toronto and finally discovered ballroom and Latin dancing, for which he realized he had an affinity.

After more than twenty years of teaching and winning multiple awards, in 2009, he found his way back to the dream.