Reichen Lehmkuhl
Reichen Lehmkuhl (born
26 December 1973 in
Cincinnati, Ohio) is a
gay male fashion model best known for winning
season four of the
reality game show The Amazing Race with his then-partner
Chip Arndt.
After Lehmkuhl's parents divorced when he was five, his family moved to
Norton, Massachusetts and his mother remarried. He later changed his first name legally from Richard to Reichen. At age 16, he received his nomination from
United States Congressman
Barney Frank for admission to the
United States Air Force Academy. After graduating in 1996, he served five years and attained the rank of Captain before his honorable discharge. He has since advocated for gay rights in the military as a spokesperson for
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network.
Lehmkuhl was working simultaneously as a Physics teacher at
Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences,
flight instructor and
model in
Los Angeles when he was approached by a
casting director for
The Amazing Race [
1]. Lehmkuhl and Arndt were a happy couple during the competition but have since split. Lehmkuhl moved to
Dallas,
Texas briefly after his win on
The Amazing Race but before all episodes had been broadcast. Reichen's spending habits at that time caused speculation that he had won The Amazing Race — and that he and Arndt had broken up. During the show, the couple was typically described as "Married" in the subtitles that are used to illustrate the relationship between team members (other teams being, for example, "Best Friends" or "Father-Daughter").
Lehmkuhl hosted
The Reichen Show on
Q Television Network until Q Television ceased operations on May 2006. His autobiography
Here's What We'll Say, about his time in the Air Force under the military's commonly called "
Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, is scheduled for publication by Carroll and Graf on August 28, 2006. He publishes a
beefcake calendar each year and has appeared on
sitcoms,
soap operas, and other reality shows.
On
July 26 2006, former
'N Sync band member
Lance Bass told
People Magazine that he is
gay and in a stable relationship with Lehmkuhl.
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Reichen Lehmkuhl official website
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Photos of Reichen Lehmkuhl
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AfterElton interview with Reichen Lehmkuhl *
Metro Weekly interview 
