"Like it or not, Mom...I'm gay." |
Riley Stavros is a graduate of Degrassi Community School of the Class of 2011, and attends Eastern University on a football scholarship. He was the openly gay captain and quarterback of the Degrassi Football Team. He is best friends with Peter Stone and Anya MacPherson. He is also good friends with Danny Van Zandt, Sav Bhandari, Derek Haig, Jane Vaughn, Lucas Valieri and Chantay Black. He starts off as being in denial of his homosexuality, which made him come off as cynical, brash, and angry, constantly striving to be the perfect heterosexual football player. However, it became clear that he was actually sweet, caring and kind, never resorting to bullying like all the other jocks.
He is shown to be exceptionally talented in athletics, especially football, and tough fighter and boxer. He has come to terms with his sexuality; his mother has finally accepted him and he has plans to come out to his father. He plans to be the first openly gay professional football player in history. He is currently in a relationship with Zane Park, which has been confirmed via their Twitter accounts. He was portrayed by Argiris Karras.
Character History
Early life
From his mother's appearances, it can be determined that Riley's parents came from Greece to Canada and that he was raised in a household that placed a high emphasis on its heritage. It is assumed that Riley had attended Degrassi Community School for the past three years and that he was involved with several sports, especially football. In Bad Medicine, it is revealed that he attended some sort of camp three years prior to Season 8.
Season 8
In Uptown Girl (1), Riley is introduced as a popular grade 12 student (though he was later retconned to grade 11 in season 10); he has it all going for him: friends, a spot on the Football Team, and cute girls crushing on him. The girls think he is amazing since he plays football and is very good looking.
In Fight the Power, while Jane Vaughn tries to get on the Degrassi football team, Riley initially joins in teasing her. He later shows remorse when Derek Haig takes the harassment too far. When Riley walks in on Derek attacking Jane, he takes the opportunity to defend her by pushing Derek off of her and down the hall, and is then himself shoved by Bruce. After this incident, Riley becomes one of Jane's first supporters when she decides to stay on the team, claiming "she is a good player."
In Man With Two Hearts, Peter tries to balance a friendship with Riley and a relationship with Mia, which he finds is harder than it seems. Mia's pressuring Peter to fully commit himself into a relationship that he's not sure he's ready for yet. At the same time, he's happy that Riley and him have become friends so fast. They wind up working on a science project together and Peter joins cross country. Their friendship turns into a manly competition, and the two wind up skipping class to go back to Peter's loft to play Wii Sports on Nintendo Wii. Once there, Riley beats Peter in the game and offers him some boxing pointers. Riley winds up kissing Peter unexpectedly, and Peter pushes him away. Riley leaves embarrassed.
Peter then decides to become official with Mia and is freaked out by Riley kissing him. Mia tells Peter that he shouldn't stop being friends with Riley just because he's gay, so Peter decides to talk to him. Riley saw Peter and Mia talking at the picnic bench while throwing a football with Bruce. He sees the newly official couple kiss and seems jealous. Peter sees Riley in the workout room and tries talking to him about being gay, and Riley denies anything ever happening between the two of them. He also denies being gay. Riley gets fed up and angry with Peter, so he gets up and pushes him against the lockers screaming at him "Nothing happened! You got it?!"
In Bad Medicine, it was revealed that Riley has been taking steroids to increase his strength. Peter confronts him about it, and about the unexpected kiss. Riley tells him it was a weird mistake. Later, he is seen setting up a secret hook-up with one of his old friends, Nathan, from camp in the Ravine. When Anya MacPherson walks by, he suspiciously shuts his laptop, and runs after Anya, asking her out for a date. She accepts, and Riley attempts to keep his homosexuality hidden. But later, he goes to the Ravine where he sees his old camp friend, who he was attempting to hook up with. Afraid, Riley runs off, and is driven to take more steroids. They make him extremely paranoid, which is shown in English class when he throws an eraser at Peter's head, thinking that he was laughing and talking about him. This causes Mrs. Kwan to send him to the principal's office. Later, Peter confronts him, and tells him the dangerous effects the steroids are having on him. Riley blows him off and goes on a picnic with Anya. They talk, and Riley leans in for a kiss. The kiss is very awkward and Riley makes an excuse to leave. Afterward, Riley goes to the Ravine, where he sees his online friend again. His friend begins to flirt with him, and Riley seems to be enjoying it. However, Riley starts to get scared and tries to go but his friend tells him to relax and that he was nervous his first time with a guy as well. Riley gives in, and his friend starts trailing kisses along
Riley's neck, Riley seemingly enjoying it. Later, Anya talks to Riley and tells him that the kiss did not feel right, and that she still had feelings for Sav Bhandari. Riley is relieved, and tells her that he feels the same. She still feels guilty however, and Riley tells her he is comfortable with the idea of the two being friends. Unfortunately, Sav is still jealous, and later, when Riley gets a text from his online friend, Sav thinks it is from Anya. Sav begins to attack Riley, saying: "We were together six months. That means more to her then some stupid GAY picnic," which sets Riley off. Riley headbutts him and begins to punch him in a steroid-fueled rage. He is stopped and gets suspended. When Peter is giving him his homework, he admits that he doesn't want to be violent and quits taking steroids. He also appears to be coming to terms with his sexuality; when Peter asks him if he really thought steroids would turn him straight, he doesn't protest it.
In Heart of Glass, Riley is seen in the episode hanging out with Peter where they are discussing Kenya with Mia and Anya and sitting next to Peter at the Mock Debate. Riley decides to join the Mock U.N. in this episode. This is the last we really see of Riley in the season. He is seen throughout this episode, talking to Peter and other stuff.
Season 9
In Just Can't Get Enough, Riley is one of the first people to learn about Peter Stone's use of meth while talking with him and Declan Coyne. He is later seen as the bartender at the dance and is the person Peter calls when he is lost. Along with the StĆ¼dz, he finds Peter and returns him to his apartment. Later he and Spinner are the ones who stay with Peter to take care of him.
In Shoot to Thrill, Riley joins the SAT Prep Club, and on his way to one of the meetings, he and Peter spot Fiona Coyne in Fashion Club.
Riley "saves" her from Dave Turner, and Fiona then tells Dave that she and Riley are dating to get him off her back. Soon the rumor spreads around the school. Later, Riley and Fiona go out after school, but they are interrupted by Nathan, and Riley decides to leave. The next day, Fiona tells Declan about the date and how she suspects that Riley is gay. Her brother doesn't share her views due to how Riley acts in front of him, and Fiona decides that she is going to find out for sure.
In Beat It (1), Riley is taking a lifeguard course for a summer job. He continues to be confused about his sexuality and parades Fiona around to prove that he is straight. In the beginning of the episode, Riley gets an erection while watching Sam, the lifeguard instructor, perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation techniques on a practice dummy in the pool area. He doesn't realize this until another student notices, and begins to make fun of him. Riley then quickly jumps into the water to avoid further embarrassment. Later he feels pressured by his friends to have sex with Fiona, but when he tries to, she tells him that she
knows he is gay, but wants to help. This infuriates Riley and he kicks her out of his room, effectively ending their relationship. When he learns that Sam is openly gay he begins to show interest in him, but at the fair he decides to go for Chantay Black instead. However, Riley blows it with Chantay after kissing her, and goes inside the school, where Sam tries to talk with him about being gay. Riley gets angry and punches him, in front of Larissa, the president of the school's LGBT Club.
In Beat It (2), everyone knows about him attacking Sam and he is called to Ms. Hatzilakos' office about the incident where he meets Larissa. He claims that nothing happened and that there was no proof. Regardless, he is still instructed by Ms. Hatzilakos to spend the rest of the day at home, in addition to writing a one-thousand word essay on non-violent conflict resolutions. On his way out, Larissa offers him counseling sessions for homophobia, but he refuses. During the lifeguard exam, he thanks Sam for not following up with hate crime charges, but becomes distressed when Sam tells him that he had Riley removed from the lifeguard training course due to his temper. When trying to write his essay, Riley loses his temper again, tearing down posters and knocking over trophies. He then logs onto the Internet and tries to find a "cure" for homosexuality.
When Riley returns to school the next day, Peter informs him that he is getting a bad reputation for his temper, at which point Riley tells him about possibly finding a cure for his "confusion." He goes to a therapist who claims to have been cured of the same feelings Riley was having. Filled with excitement, Riley seeks out Fiona and tells her that he is looking into treatment for his "disease". Fiona replies that homosexuality cannot be cured, since it isn't a disease, and turns to leave. Angered by her behavior, he yells at Fiona "Too bad you can't cure bitch!", who then tells Riley that she never wants to speak with him again. Upon returning to the therapist, Riley learns that it would cost him $2000 (in Canadian currency) and take approximately ten months before he is cured. Outraged that it would cost so much, Riley storms out of the office and sets up a guys' night out with Peter over the telephone. Riley believes all it will take is to find the right girl. That night, Peter and Riley start to loosen up and have fun, but Riley can't get any girls to pay much attention to him, so he ends up drinking vodka from a flask that he brought. When he goes to the bathroom, drunk, he sees Sam at the urinal, and proceeds to harass him "No peeking" Riley teases while using a urinal. Riley ignores Sam's warning, and the fight ensues, which results in Riley being pinned against the wall by Sam. Riley breaks down emotionally, telling Sam that he deserves to be beaten and that he just wants to be normal. Sam tells him that he understands what Riley is going through, and that he doesn't have to come out until he's ready. The following morning, Riley "comes out" to Peter before telling him that he doesn't want anyone else to know, at least for the rest of high school, and agrees to attend anger management sessions.
In In Your Eyes, Riley starts off practicing his temper with Peter in an anger management group. Afterward, Anya confronts him and tells him that she needs to interview him for some kind of Degrassi bachelor award. When she is interviewing on the morning announcements, she asks him if he likes blonds or brunettes. Riley awkwardly answers the questions. In yoga class Riley tells Anya that he is gay after checking out Zane Park, he also asks her to not tell anyone. Anya gets excited and then tells him that he totally likes Zane. Riley sort of denies it, but sort of proves it again after Anya tells him that Zane is actually gay. The next day, Zane finds out that he is gay, and they start hanging out. They go to a secret tree house construction area where Riley likes to go to be alone. They start to talk, but when a security member comes and kicks them out Riley loses his temper and leaves Zane behind. The next day at school Zane is mad at Riley for leaving him behind with the security recruit member. Zane also wants Riley to go to the LGBT Mixer at Above The Dot. After being convinced to go to the mixer by Peter, who told Riley there would be a lot of straight people there,
Riley goes to the mixer but still feels he has to pretend to be straight. After going in to the club and seeing Anya, she suggests he'd go and dance with Zane. Zane is really happy that Riley is there and he asks to see his best dance moves. Riley eventually loosens up and starts dancing with Zane. Later on, Zane and Riley start walking through town. When Zane calls for a taxi, Riley tells him he had fun and feels more comfortable coming out. Riley and Zane say goodbye, but before Zane officially leaves they kiss. They both smile at each other.
Season 10
In 99 Problems (1), Riley is seen spending the summer with his boyfriend, Zane Park, and training for football. Zane is upset that now that summer's over, Riley has to go from "Summer Riley" (the Riley that likes to
spend time with his boyfriend, Zane) to "Football Riley" (the Riley that pretends he's straight), but Riley says that as soon as football season is over, "Football Riley" will disappear. Zane says that Riley can only hide his homosexuality so long, but Riley defends himself by saying that they could still hang out. Zane makes a joke about joining the football team and transferring his soccer skills. Just as Zane is about to leave the park where they were working out, Riley says that he had fun this summer. Riley is later seen signing up for football. Drew Torres appears and asks to borrow a pen so he can sign up. Drew introduces himself and says that the only reason he transferred from his old school to Degrassi was because of the football team and the girls. Just as Riley is making a comment about Degrassi girls, Zane appears and asks for a pen. Riley is surprised and asks him if he's really trying out, to which Zane responds that he's got to show that gay guys can play sports too. Riley then introduces the two, referring to Zane only as someone in Riley's algebra class. Zane is clearly upset with Riley's reference to him. After Drew leaves, Riley asks what he's doing and Zane asks Riley if he's not cool hanging out with Zane at football. Riley doesn't respond and Zane walks away. Riley and Drew are later seen in class. Drew asks Riley for help and Riley offers him "visual aid" with a bunch of girls named Jessica and then Fiona. Drew comments on Fiona and Riley helps Drew understand economics. Drew then reveals that he's trying out for quarterback and Riley looks troubled.
Later during the work-out, Zane is teased by a teammate, Owen, for being gay and calling him "princess." Drew says that it doesn't bother him that Zane is gay, but he wonders what will happen when the team their first game is against finds out that their kicker kisses guys. Riley walks into the gym later to discover Zane kicking a football into a net alone. They are debating the "two Rileys" when Drew walks in, unseen. As they are talking, Drew walks back out, still unseen, and overhears their conversation. Drew takes this opportunity to blackmail Riley. At try-outs the next day, Drew suggests a tailgate barbecue. Riley scoffs at him, but the coach accepts Drew's idea. As the players are leaving, Drew reminds them to bring a date. Riley brings a girl who's name he forgets, then asks about Drew's date. Drew says that he doesn't know any girls at Degrassi and Riley says that he can only name so many girls. Drew comments about boys' names; Riley angrily approaches Drew and demands to know what he's saying and Drew says that that was the second time had caught Riley checking out Zane (A.K.A. Mr. Gay). Drew brushes it off as a joke. Riley offers Zane mustard and Zane asks if Riley is finally talking. Riley responds that he and Zane can't speak to each or communicate with each other anymore; Zane is confused and calls Riley pathetic. Drew walks up and asks if he is interrupting. Riley says, "No, we're done." When Zane walks away Drew asks Riley if he's still going to deny it. Riley replies, "Dude, I'm not in the mood for your stupid jokes," and Drew says, "Who said I'm joking?" then reveals what he heard in the gym. Drew threatens, "Unless you want the whole team to find out, I suggest you step aside for QB1," and walks away. Riley then gets the idea to "welcome the new guy to the team."
In 99 Problems (2), Riley and some other football players walk over to Drew with clear wrap. When Drew asks if they are ready for early practice, the guys rush at him and haze him. Riley ties Drew up and says, "You're lucky, I used to have a violent streak." Later, Drew's mom comes to the school complaining to Mr. Simpson and Coach Armstrong that her son shouldn't have been tied up and that she will go to the school board if no one comes forward. Drew covers for Riley saying the people were wearing a mask. Later, after realizing Riley was most likely going to start as quarterback, Drew gets his mom to come back and she threatens to stop the football games if no one comes forward. Riley tells Armstrong that he was the person who hazed Drew and he then gets a five game suspension. Zane tells Riley it should be him out there instead of Drew and then he added a remark saying "or at least half of you" and Riley replies by saying that he hopes it will be all of him out there one day.
In Tears Dry On Their Own (1), Riley is in need of desperate hanging out with after s
chool, but he doesn't feel that he's ready to hang with the football team yet, he can't bear hearing them make gay jokes. After rejecting Owen Milligan's offer of hanging out with the guys in the breakroom, to shoot some pool and checkout some girls. Riley hears Owen's new nickname for Zane, "Rockette". Riley asks Zane what that is all about, and Zane tells him that it's "Because I'm the kicker. It's a gay joke.". Riley continues talking to Zane and asks him if he wants to hangout after school, but Zane tells him that until football Riley and the gay Riley morph together to be himself, it's better that they don't be seen together. Riley tries to find someone else to hang out with. He walks up to Anya MacPherson, and asks if they can hangout since they haven't in a while, but Anya tells him he can't because she has family responsibilities. Riley tries to negotiate, until Anya tells him that her mom has cancer. He is astonished, and asks if he can go to the hospital with her. Anya says okay but doesn't understand why. Later, after a football game Riley meets up with Anya and he tells her that he'll go to the hospital with her whenever she goes, because it'll be a good way to find a boyfriend, or something in that sense, Anya agrees. They go to the hospital, and waiting outside of the room they talk until Anya introduces her mom's doctor, Doctor Chris to Riley. After the doctor walks away Riley asks if she likes him, and Anya sort of makes it aware, she also notices that he likes him too. Riley tells Anya that he's gay because of his awesome gaydar
abilities, but Anya thinks he's straight. They shake on it to see if they can prove their cases.
In Tears Dry On Their Own (2), Riley and Anya walk outside of school, and they talk about Doctor Chris. Riley begs Anya to let him go back to the hospital with him, because he only had about 4 crushes, and 3 of them came out, and the other one was Peter. Anya laughs and they begin talking about how they can find out if Doctor Chris is gay or not. They go to the hospital with a clipboard, they begin to interview the Doctor for their "relationship education" class. Doctor Chris leads them to believe that he was gay, calling his old girlfriend his "partner" and referring to her as "Dr." rather than 'Miss". Anya and Riley look at each other and ask other questions, Riley asks what he sees in a guy or a girl, and the doctor awkwardly answers that he tries to find the right girl, and never succeeds. Afterward, Chris asks why they're asking these questions, and Anya tells them it's for their relationship class, and Chris asks if they're in university, and Anya lies and tells him that they are, and that's their extra class. Doctor Chris tells them that they're lucky because that wasn't a class when he was at college; after Anya leaves, and Riley looks glum.
She turns around and asks what's wrong, Riley tells her that he was just excited that he met someone he liked that doesn't go to Degrassi. Anya asks him to describe his dream guy, and he describes Zane. Later on, Anya and Riley are doing Algebra, Anya calls Zane to come over and help despite Riley's wishes, Zane comes over and helps, then leaves, but Riley calls him back and they talk.
In Still Fighting It (1), Riley takes advice from Anya. In the locker room, Riley makes plans with Zane for after school, when Owen walks in and starts instantly making fun of Zane. Riley sort of chimes in to, causing Zane to cancel their plans, and become mad at Riley. Upset, Riley seeks advice from Anya, who tells him that he needs to find a way to make Zane see that he cares for him. They see Zane hang a poster for a LGBT event about homophobia and Anya suggests that Riley go, to try and show Zane that he is working on bettering himself. Riley later attends the meeting and surprises Zane, who doesn't understand why he's there.
After hearing Zane's opinion of the locker room jokes, Riley realizes he's a homophobe. At school the next day Riley overhears Dave Turner telling Wesley Betenkamp that something was "gay", using the word to mean lame. Riley sort of messes with him and makes him scared to ever say that again. Zane is surprised that Riley came to his senses, and forgives him. Trying to make an impact and win Zane over even more, Riley gets the idea to follow the rules of Spartacus from Anya, and makes the whole team's shirts pink in the wash. Riley then tells them that they'll have to all wear pink, Owen is pissed and leaves, but the whole team supports and Zane is happy. But, after practice, Zane and Riley see "Homo" written in shaving cream on Riley's locker, which sets him off.
In Still Fighting It (2), Riley confronts Owen outside of school, despite listening to Zane's protests not to, and punches Owen in his face. Owen gets pissed and tells him he's lucky that they're at school and leaves. Riley is pissed and wipes the shaving cream "Riley Is A Fag" that Owen wrote the football bus. Later in the day Riley picks up Zane's dropped apple, but when he tries to return it, he gets more pressure from Zane. Zane tells him he doesn't understand that when you hurt a homophobe it makes them more homophobic. Riley agrees to talk to Owen. Later as Riley posts a sticky note on Zane's locker, asking him to The Dot, Owen shows up and Riley threatens him. He tells Owen that if he doesn't stop with the gay jokes and comments they have another fight. At the Dot, Riley hears Zane's scream for help, and sees Owen and his friends running away, Zane tells them that they jumped him and threw him in the trash.
They get into another fight, and Zane leaves mad. At home, Riley tries to tell his mom he's gay, but it doesn't work out the way he wanted. Later on, Riley goes to the Bachelor Auction to speak with Zane, asking him for another chance. Zane tells him that he needs to be the guy that he (Zane) fell for, not the angry football jock he's become, before he'll consider giving Riley another chance. Riley leaves and Zane starts to get auctioned off. As the bids for Zane increase up and just before a female student is about to win Zane, Riley calls out a bid of $50 for Zane, and wins. Later Drew confronts Riley, telling him that the whole school is wondering if he's gay. Zane covers for Riley, and after discussing their relationship, Zane tells Riley he has some date planning to do.
In Purple Pills (1), Riley is happy with Zane and his relationship and he is hoping to go on another date sometime soon. Getting advice from Anya, he hopes to ask Zane out on another date,
and make it aware that they're dating without making a public announcement. Anya gets the idea to have Riley and Zane sign up for the dance's King & Queen, or in other words King & King. Riley does so. In class, Zane is super happy with Riley, and confronts him in MI Lab. He starts talking about how he's happy that Riley has come out, and he starts hugging Riley. Riley pulls away from Zane, and asks what happened. Zane explains how the nominees are online, and Riley sees his name and Zane's name online. He is sort of mad because he didn't know it'd be online, but he's sort of happy too because this means he's out of the closet now and him and Zane are together finally and officially. Later, when it's time for the final football game, and he is pumped up, but he comes to the team huddle to see another player betting the rest of the team if Riley is actually going out with Zane. Drew tries to knock it off, but the player asks Riley if he likes guys, and Riley says yes. The player is happy that he won the bet, and Zane is happy Riley officially came out to the whole team. But, Riley is pissed about the bet and yells at the whole team who are fighting, because of it, and Riley tells the team that it's the last game and they better do their best, and not care what sexuality he is, Drew and everyone agrees. After, a successful win, Coach Armstrong introduces Riley to a football recruiter. Riley learns that the recruiter and Coach Armstrong are long time friends, and that he is there to see if Riley would like to be scouted, he gives Riley a card and everything. But, the problem is Riley doesn't know whether to tell everyone he's gay when he's scouted.
In Purple Pills (2), Riley debates with himself whether it's best to come out or not since he's being scouted by an Eastern college football recruiter. He talks to Anya about it and as he does so, Chantay Black walks up to him and says she's proud of him for nominating himself and Zane for King and King at the Degrassi dance. Riley doesn't understand at first and then Chantay tells him there's a campaign to get him and Zane voted King and King of Degrassi for the school dance. Riley is surprised and Anya tells him that the closet is officially bolted shut. Later on, Riley tells the recruiter that football and homosexuality just don't mix. The recruiter doesn't seem to mind and actually thinks it would be a great idea to have an openly gay football player at their school. Zane confronts him after his talk with the recruiter and tells him that he's like gay-rights activist Harvey Milk. Riley doesn't know who Milk is, but Zane tells him he was an openly gay politician. However, Riley is caught off guard when Zane tells him that Harvey was assassinated for being a "hero." This suggests he was killed for being a homosexual. Later on, Riley looks up gay sports players and is mildly disturbed when he searches "why are gay sports players afraid to come out?" He finds that the player's careers go down the drain and that
they receive death threats,and Riley tells his coach he's not sure if he wants to take the risk, but Coach Armstrong questions him by asking him if he wants to take the risk and pursue his dream or be disappointed for the rest of his life. At the end of the episode, Riley is seen talking to the Eastern recruiter and tells Zane that he now has a football scholarship. They hug and share a passionate kiss openly throughout all of the excitement.
In All Falls Down (2), Riley and Zane are seen gambling at Degrassi's "A night in Vegas" dance. When Drew and Alli Bhandari are crowned King and Queen, Riley is a bit disappointed about not winning because he wanted Zane and him to win. Zane then tells Riley that there's always prom. In the background, Riley and Zane are seen dancing together throughout the episode.
In The Way We Get By (1), Riley wants to be a better boyfriend for Zane and asks for advice to Anya, she suggests him to go to Zaneās (ex-boy)friendās art exhibit, instead of watching the game at home because boyfriends sometimes have to do things they donāt like for the sake of the relationship.
After school Riley gets a haircut and an outfit to impress Zane at the art room. Once they are at the art exhibit, Riley tries to seem interested but it doesnāt work. Then at Riley's house, Riley apologizes to Zane for his behavior at the art exhibit and Zane forgives him, Riley tells Zane how lucky he is to have him by his side and begin to "make out" in Riley's room. Riley's mom comes in without warning, saying, "Snacks for the study buddi-" then finds them "making out". She apologizes and leaves the room, without saying anything about what she saw, Riley begins to worry and tells Zane that heās not prepared to have this conversation with his mom yet.
In The Way We Get By (2), after Rileyās mom walked in on him and Zane "making out", he knows that the time has come to tell his parents heās gay. Unfortunately, Rileyās mom pretends that she didnāt see anything and refuses to listen to Riley. Riley tells Zane about his momās reaction and decides that heās ready to come out and will force his parents to listen. Riley decides to be nice and subtle and leaves gay magazine and a picture of him and Zane on his bed and then goes for a run, knowing his mom will clean his room. Riley gets back from his run and his mom pretends like nothing was on his bed. Out of ideas, Riley confronts his mother and tells her that heās gay. She refuses to listen and storms out of the room. Riley comes home the next day to meet up with his dad for their father son baseball game tradition, but Rileyās mom told his dad that he wouldnāt be going. She said she assumed that since Riley was gay he wouldnāt like things like āsportsā. She then told him to never tell his father about his āconfusionā. Riley tells the situation to Zane. Zane tells him to give them time just like how it took him a lot of time to realize he was gay. They agree to go on to see a game the next day.
Season 11
In Idioteque, Riley is seen with a new haircut, using one of the computers at Degrassi. Riley asks Anya if she was the girl that Owen slept with at Fiona's house. He then asks Anya if she wants to walk to class with him, which she agrees to.
In Dirt Off Your Shoulder (1), Riley is in his car with his mom and they are barely speaking. Riley asks his mom if they could celebrate his birthday and she says maybe. She then mentions that a family friend's daughter, Athena, wants to talk to Riley about sport scholarships, but she thought Riley wouldn't be interested. Riley says he would love to, even though he has to cancel his date with Zane. He is later seen in the gym when Zane walks in and tells Riley about the 10,000 steps Challenge Mr. Simpson put them in charge of. Riley then breaks his
date with Zane, telling him he has to talk to his mom. Riley is later seen at The Dot with Athena, who interprets the dinner as a date. Riley comes out to her and tells her to keep it a secret. Athena also tells Riley that she wasn't allowed to have a boyfriend until age 16, so she snuck boys as study partners into her room so she could have "the best of both worlds" (perfect child to her parents and have boyfriends). The next day, Riley comes up with a dodgeball tournament for kids to particapate in so they can take 10,000 steps in one day. Riley talks to Zane about his "talk with his mom" when he rushes off to the bathroom. Riley's phone beeps and Zane picks it up and doesn't look happy. Riley then meets Zane by the zen garden and Zane accuses Riley of cheating on him and hands Riley back his phone and leaves. Riley sees that the message says "Had fun on our date last night" from Athena.
In Dirt Off Your Shoulder (2), Riley goes to confront Zane about what
happened with the text. Zane doesn't believe Riley when he is told about the date being a setup. When Riley explains that because things are good with his family right now, he doesn't want to shake things up again. Zane retorts that he feels like a dirty secret. Riley invites Zane to his birthday dinner, but only as a friend. At the Dinner (with Riley and his family, Zane and Athena and her mother present), Riley's father gives him an expensive watch
telling him he only turns 18 once. When Riley's father makes a comment about Riley and Athena having kids, she mentions his (nonexistent) girlfriend. Zane, of course, is displeased by this. Riley talks about his girlfriend, while actually talking about Zane, telling him to relax. Zane excuses himself from dinner. Riley chases him and Zane tells him he can't do this and that there isn't anything fun about it. Anya convinces Riley that it's time to talk to his family about his being gay, so as not to lose Zane. Riley invites Zane to The Dot telling him he's made a big decision. When Zane arrives, Riley breaks up with him, because he can't keep putting him through these things, but he isn't ready to come out yet.
In Extraordinary Machine (1), Riley takes Jake's place in the school play as the role of "Jack".
In Extraordinary Machine (2), Riley is seen acting in the school play production. Anya originally went to see him perform.
In Take a Bow (1), Anya invites him to prom (which he accepts) and he points out the strenuous parts of the military. However, Anya later cancels their friend-date in favor of going with Owen.
In Take a Bow (2), Riley manages to come out to his mom successfully and have her finally understand him for who he is. Zane also says "Hi, Riley," talking to him for the first time on-screen since the breakup.
In Dead and Gone (1), it is mentioned that Riley will have to sit with Sav, Anya, Owen, etc. at Prom. Anya wonders if this will be a problem because Zane is also at their table.
In Dead and Gone (2), Riley tells Zane he came out to his mom and is planning on coming out to his dad. Zane lets Riley know he accepted Eastern's offer, and Riley suggests maybe they could sit together at freshman orientation.
Degrassi Minis
In Monster Moon: Part 3, Riley is dressed up as a serial killer and is about to kill Zane when he is noticed by him. He is berated about his costume selection (as the two had previously planned on matching gladiator outfits), preventing him from murdering his boyfriend. Zane calls him selfish and he asks for forgiveness when Fiona Coyne shows up dressed as a mime, scaring them both off.
In episode 6 of Degrassi TV, Drew talks about how when he first enrolled at Degrassi that bullying Riley was the "masculine" thing to do because Riley was gay.
Appearances
- Uptown Girl (1) No Lines
- Uptown Girl (2)
- Fight the Power
- Didn't We Almost Have It All No Lines
- Man With Two Hearts
- Bad Medicine
- Heart of Glass
- Danger Zone No Lines
Trivia
- Riley was originally in Peter's class, but was retconned to Holly J.'s by season nine.
- Riley is the first gay male, who was in a relationship with a lesbian.
- Riley was one of five athletes to get involved with drugs while on a team. The other four are Jimmy, Toby, Drew, and Katie.
- Riley was the second character to have a coming out storyline. The first was Marco Del Rossi.
- Riley was originally supposed to have romantic, more sexual involvements with Peter, but the writers decided not to expand the storyline.
- Though all we see him playing is Football, it's implied that he plays a variety of sports including hockey - according to some tweets made by characters - along with Zane and Owen. He has also shown an interest in baseball.
- Riley is one of eleven regular characters that didn't say anything in their first appearances. The other ten are Connor, Luke, Cam, Shay, Esme, and Saad, Spike, Marco, Anya, and Bruce.
- Like Marco, Riley saw "Riley's a fag" written by Owen on a school bus with shaving cream while Marco saw "Marco is a fag" graffitied by Spinner in the restroom with a marker.
- Out of all the athletes on the show, he's the only one to actually be scouted.
- Riley plans to be one of the first openly gay professional football players in history.
- Riley is attending Eastern University on a football scholarship along with Zane.
- His Twitter
- According to a tweet, after prom Riley had a two week training camp at Eastern.
- He loves the Swedish film Let the Right One In, as revealed in Shoot to Thrill. It is unknown where he stands in the "Cats vs. Vampires" debate.
- It is heavily implied that he and Zane got back together at prom or at Eastern.
- Though Riley is a star quarterback, he started the show as a running back.
- So far, Riley has kissed: a heterosexual male (without permission), a heterosexual female, another heterosexual female (without permission), a lesbian, his first male love interest.
- Riley is one of the five homosexuals to have a crush on a heterosexual. The other four were Marco who had a crush on Griffin, Fiona who had a crush on Holly J., Tristan Milligan who had a crush on Cam, and Zoƫ who had a crush on Grace.
- Riley is considered to strongly resemble former Degrassi character Dylan Michalchuk, but he shares similarities with Dylan's ex-boyfriend, Marco Del Rossi.
- In Beat It (1), Chantay told Riley that they were "barely friends" when he kissed her at the Degrassi fair.
- Although he was a regular character in Season 9, he only appeared in five episodes.
Quotes
- "You're looking good." Riley referring to Mia's pictures on the anti-grapevine (first line)
- "Maybe we'll sit together during Frosh Week." (to Zane; final line)
- "Looks like Kenya has some diplomatic relations to take care of..."
- "But Zane, this is all new to me."
- "I'm a homosexual." - Riley to Peter
- Riley: "Rockette?"
Zane: "I'm a kicker...it's a gay joke. Don't they bother you?"
Riley: "I didn't even get it..." - "Hey, lay off the gay jokes, man. I mean it." - Riley to Peter
- "No use crushing on a straight guy." - Riley to Anya, referring to Dr. Chris
- Fiona: "You can't cure homosexuality."
Riley: "Yes, you can, it's like a disease!"
Fiona: "Wow, you really hate yourself, don't you?" *Starts walking away*
Riley: "Too bad you can't cure bitch!" - (In Monster Moon: Part 3): Zane: "What were you thinking Riley, what?"
Riley: "I was going to kill you."
Zane: "Always thinking about yourself."
Riley: "I'm sorry, I'm an idiot." - (To Zane): "Sometimes you just need to get away from the world. Less stuff to explain if someone sees us."
- "I'm a homophobe."
- (To Ana): "Whoa, I'm actually... out."
- "Zane, I like you. I want another chance."
- "Oh God. I'm not ready to have this conversation."
- (To Ana): "I've had four crushes in my life. Three turned out to be gay and well, jury's still out on Peter. So my gaydar has a 75% success rate."
- (To Zane): "You're amazing, I don't know why you keep giving me chances."
- Riley: "I'm actually a big fan of the local arts community."
Zane: "Really?"
Riley: "Yup, I love the arts!" - "It's your scene so, I was trying to pretend that it was mine too."
- "I can't believe how lucky I am!"
- "Mom! What are you ... doing!?"
- "You saw me making out with my boyfriend. I'm gay!"
- "As if I'm going to tell my parents I need money to get de-gayed!"
- "If my mom wants to live in a fantasy world where her 'straight' son reads Hunkz magazine, maybe that's OK."
- (to Zane): "Owen wrote homo on my locker, do I look okay?!"
- (To his mom): " But I stil love sports, being gay doesn't change that."
- (To his mom): "When Dad gets home were all gonna sit down and talk about this." "Don't bother your father with this." "Mom-" "DON'T!"
- Riley: "They don't call me 'Big Ben' for nothing!"
Zane: "They call you Big Ben?"
Riley "...No, not really."
Zane: *giggles* - "If I tell you, I'd have to kill you."
- Fiona: "What's that trophy for?"
Riley: "It's for kissing." - (to his mom): "Like it or not, Mom...I'm gay."
- (to Zane): "I was dreading tonight, but I'm glad we're both here and at the same table."
- "Wait, I drink?"
- "I don't wanna be a hero, I just wanna play ball."
- "Go ahead, kick my ass. I deserve it."
- "I'm not normal."
- "But I don't want everybody to know."
- "Looks like a poor attempt at finger painting. Let's see who did this, Thomas Far-... oh."
- "Hey! I told you... I was thinking about my girlfriend."
- "Whoa, TWO GRAND? Oh, I get it. This is a scam, right?"
- "Maybe when I'm done with treatment, you'd be interested in having a REAL boyfriend."
- "Guys wanna know whose easy."
- "Let's say we welcome the new guy to the team."
- (To Fiona): "Ooh damn! You might need a transfusion!"
- "Zane is the best guy, like, ever."
- "50!"
- "Woo! 5-0! You should stick to pool, or track."
- "I told you! NOTHING HAPPENED! GOT IT?!"
- "But it's all worth it because she's some super hot model!"
- "Peter here got into a scuffle with a tree root. The root won."
- "(drunk) No peeking."
- "Fiona, if you've been listening to those rumors..."
- Anya: "You have a date!"
Riley: "No it's just... wait, is it?"
Relationships
- Main article: Riley-Fiona Relationship
- Fiona Coyne
- Start Up: Shoot to Thrill (903)
- Break Up: Beat It (1) (907)
- Reason: Fiona mocked Riley's self-hatred, causing him to call her a bitch.
- Main article: Zane-Riley Relationship
- Zane Park
- First Relationship:
- Start Up: In Your Eyes (918)
- Break Up: 99 Problems (1) (1005)
- Reason: Zane tried to manipulate Riley into coming out of the closet.
- Second Relationship:
- Start Up: Still Fighting It (2) (1020)
- Break Up: Dirt Off Your Shoulder (2) (1109)
- Reason: Riley knew Zane wouldn't wait for him to come out to his parents.
- Third Relationship
- Start Up: After Dead and Gone (2) (1129)
- Note: This has been confirmed on their Twitter. (after graduation)
- Start Up: After Dead and Gone (2) (1129)
- First Relationship:
Interaction
Friendships | Relationships | Conflicts | Attractions | Love Triangles |
---|---|---|---|---|
Peter-Riley Friendship | Zane-Riley Relationship | Riley-Drew Conflict | Riley-Anya Friendship | Sav-Anya-Riley Love Triangle |
Riley-Anya Friendship | Riley-Fiona Relationship | Riley-Owen Conflict | ||
Riley-Blue Friendship |
v - e - d |
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Alex ā¢ Alli ā¢ Anya ā¢ Ashley ā¢ Blue ā¢ Bruce ā¢ Caitlin ā¢ Chantay ā¢ Clare ā¢ Connor ā¢ Craig ā¢ Damian ā¢ Danny ā¢ Darcy ā¢ Dave ā¢ Declan ā¢ Derek ā¢ Ellie ā¢ Emma ā¢ Fiona ā¢ Hatzilakos ā¢ Hazel ā¢ Holly J. ā¢ J.T. ā¢ Jane ā¢ Jay ā¢ Jenna ā¢ Jimmy ā¢ Joey ā¢ Johnny ā¢ K.C. ā¢ Kelly ā¢ Leia ā¢ Liberty ā¢ Manny ā¢ Marco ā¢ Mia ā¢ Paige ā¢ Peter ā¢ Raditch ā¢ Riley ā¢ Sav ā¢ Sean ā¢ Snake ā¢ Spike ā¢ Spinner ā¢ Terri ā¢ Toby |
v - e - d |
---|
Adam ā¢ Alli ā¢ Anya ā¢ Becky ā¢ Bianca ā¢ Cam ā¢ Chantay ā¢ Clare ā¢ Connor ā¢ Dallas ā¢ Dave ā¢ Declan ā¢ Drew ā¢ Eli ā¢ Fiona ā¢ Frankie ā¢ Grace ā¢ Holly J. ā¢ Hunter ā¢ Imogen ā¢ Jack ā¢ Jake ā¢ Jenna ā¢ K.C. ā¢ Katie ā¢ Leia ā¢ Lola ā¢ Luke ā¢ Marisol ā¢ Maya ā¢ Miles ā¢ Mo ā¢ Owen ā¢ Peter ā¢ Riley ā¢ Sav ā¢ Shay ā¢ Snake ā¢ Tiny ā¢ Tori ā¢ Tristan ā¢ Wesley ā¢ Winnie ā¢ Winston ā¢ Zane ā¢ Zig ā¢ ZoĆ« |