Former gyrene, athlete are bugged on show

Josh Kleinbaum

Andre Riley always thought he could eat anything. Smells never

bothered him. His philosophy was pretty simple: If he could chew it,

he could eat it.

Then he saw the bowl. The one with hissing cockroaches,

tarantulas, cow’s tongue and who knew what else in it.

“I said, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me,’ ” said Riley, a Glendale

resident. “This is not real.”

Well, it’s reality, in the television sense. Riley and his

girlfriend of two years, Amirah Leonard, will appear on the NBC

reality show “Fear Factor” in a special seven-week couples theme,

beginning at 8 p.m. Monday. Eight couples must complete a variety of

outrageous tasks designed to test their fears, and one couple is

eliminated each week. The winning couple receives $1 million. Both Riley and Leonard said the worst of the stunts was the food.

“It was the nastiest concoction Fear Factor has ever put

together,” said Leonard, who lives in La Crescenta and is an

assistant girls’ basketball coach and substitute teacher at Crescenta

Valley High School. “There were all of these things crawling. It

smelled horrendous and just made your stomach hurl.”

Riley and Leonard said they survived the entree, with Leonard

giving the worst of the worst to Riley. The show was taped about two

months ago, but neither would say how long they lasted, citing an

agreement with NBC.

They seemed suited for the job. Leonard, 26, played college

basketball at Clemson and professionally in Europe. She said the

athleticism and competitive drive she developed playing basketball

helped on the TV show.

“That and talking [trash] like you do on the court,” Leonard said.

Riley, 31, spent 12 years in the military, first in the Navy and

then the Marine Corps, building the discipline necessary to eat

cockroaches, jump out of helicopters, be shoved off of buildings and

be electrocuted.

“No matter what you’re doing, no matter where you are, you get it

done,” Riley said.

Riley and Leonard said the seven-week ordeal strengthened their

relationship. And they’re still dating.

“Sometimes, we’re back and forth at each other’s throats, but

during this whole contest, we knew we had to depend on each other

each and every day,” Riley said. “I know a lot more about her, and I

know in tough times, she can come through.”