Reality show picks another local teen

By KAYLEY MENDENHALL, Chronicle Staff Writer

Bjorn Leum, 15, has a much better excuse than the dog eating his homework.

The family dog ate his finger.

When he was 2 years old, Bjorn had his right ring finger accidentally cut off with a hatchet wielded by his older brother. In the chaos of the moment, his finger was left in the family's Ennis garage and eventually consumed by the dog.

That was the story Bjorn told in a video he sent to the Discovery Kids Network hoping to be cast in "Endurance," a reality television show for teens. The story caught the network's attention, and Bjorn was one of 20 teenagers chosen to travel to Kauai, Hawaii, for the taping of the "Survival"-type show.

"I think I was picked just because of my finger," Bjorn, a sophomore at Ennis High School, said. "They said I was diverse."

This is the third season of "Endurance," which aired its two-part casting special Sept. 4 and 11 on NBC. Bjorn made it through those shows and will appear on the first regular episode Sept. 25.

"I can't tell you how Bjorn did yet," said Karen Baratz, Discovery Kids publicist. "Six kids, right off the bat during the first game get kicked off. But there are interesting twists and turns this season, so people will have to tune in."

The show requires teams of one boy and one girl to compete in challenges every week. And in every episode, some kids are eliminated.

Knowing that on any given day her trip to Hawaii could come to an end made the "Endurance" experience a bittersweet one for Cindy Restvedt, Bjorn's mom.

"It was always a dream of mine to get to go to Hawaii, but I never knew how I was going to get there," said Restvedt, owner of Changing Winds Organic Foods in Ennis. "It was the most ecstatic trip I've ever had. It was paradise there. But I wore a pager, and every day at a certain time if your pager went off it meant your kid was eliminated and you're going home."

Because of network rules, Restvedt and Bjorn can't say how long they were in Hawaii for the filming that started in June. But both said they got to know the other parents and kids involved in the show and became close friends with many of those people.

"We just have become like a family," Restvedt said. "We just can't wait to see each other again."

So far, Bjorn said, it has been interesting to watch his fellow cast members' audition tapes during the first two episodes. He's interested to see how he'll be perceived once the regular shows begin.

"I think that for some reason they might make me look pretty bad. I gave the producer and the host a hard time," Bjorn said. "The third season, it's definitely going to be more intense or more emotional than past seasons. I don't know what I'm expecting."

Bjorn is not the first teenager from the Bozeman area to be cast on "Endurance." During the first season, two Bozeman teenagers, Cree Howard and Aaron Thornburg, were cast on the show. Cree was eliminated in the first episode, but Aaron won the whole thing including a trip on the Amazon River.

Bjorn said he never watched the show until he found out he was going to Hawaii. Then he started tuning in on Saturday mornings, hoping to work out a strategy for playing the game.

"Most of the kids wanted to stay there as long as possible," he said. "It was the funnest time anybody has ever had, hanging out day after day with 20 kids."

"Endurance" is on at 9:30 Saturday mornings on NBC.

Kayley Mendenhall is at kmendenhall@dailychronicle.com

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