Kanye West and Kim Kardashian. Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Even Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom. Their marriages all faded.

Not Leon and Mary Lewandowski of Santa Barbara. Not only have they survived the test of time, but they just might be America’s Favorite Couple.

The Lewandowskis are local teachers who are competing in Variety Magazine’s America’s Favorite Couple competition. Leon Lewandowski said he entered them into the contest after seeing an ad a few times on Facebook.

“It kept screaming at me,” he said of the ad. “I clicked it and gave them some pictures and forgot about it.”

The Lewandowskis’ origin story is not that uncommon in the world of traditional marriages. He thought she was cute when they first met. She said he made her laugh. Bingo. It’s that simple, sometimes.

They met at UCSB, and Leon Lewandowski, a serial jokester, knocked on her dorm room and said, “I am with the UCSB Welcoming Team.”

So, the first thing he ever told her to impress her was a lie — again, not than uncommon.

It was not an instant attraction for Mary Lewandowski.

“Leon is the kind of guy you have to get to know,” she said. “No one forgets him. He really grew up on me, chatting with him, talking for hours just laughing and joking.”

He said, “I grew on her like moss on a tree.”

They both had partners when they first met, so there was a bit of flirting but nothing that crossed the line at the time. They stayed friends but eventually lost connection. About two years after they met, they were both single. He invited her to a party. She came, and they reconnected.

Shortly afterward, they made a date to go dancing in Isla Vista at the Graduate, a hallowed concert venue at the time where bands like the Ramones once played, and now is Embarcadero Hall. The day just happened to be Valentine’s Day.

It’s where they shared their first kiss, and in the most romantic way possible. They were sharing a glass of Jungle Juice from the nearby McBurley’s when they were down to the last piece of ice.

He asked her, “Do you want this?”

He held it in his lips. She went for the ice, and he said, “It melted.”

“We pretty much have been inseparable ever since,” he said.

The Lewandowskis have been married for 33 years and have two daughters, ages 21 and 26.

Leon Lewandowski said he is comfortable with extravagant acts to get attention. On their 25th wedding anniversary, he decided to propose to his wife in flash mob style in Santa Barbara.

They were shopping at the art show on Cabrillo Boulevard. A vendor, in on the proposal, told Lewandowski, “You can’t touch this,” when he tried to touch a piece of jewelry.

From there, MC Hammer’s hit song played from a boom box, and some of the couple’s friends popped up from within the crowd and started dancing. Leon Lewandowski showed off his best Hammer dance moves and re-proposed to Mary Lewandowski on the sidewalk for the whole crowd to see.

Those are the kinds of stunts that Mary Lewandowski said have continually won over her heart.

But … do they ever argue? Well, he said he didn’t exactly have a model upbringing. His parents married, divorced, got back together and then separated again.

“I saw what I didn’t want,” he said.

He said he and his wife “definitely have disagreements,” but that they do their best to deal with them.

“We rarely fight,” he said. “We give each other space and then come back and talk about it. Sometimes you just agree to disagree and move on.”

Leon Lewandowski is the kind of guy who has a tendency to diffuse situations. He’s a walking comic, perhaps inspired by one of his heroes: Pee-wee Herman. He boasts of having one of the largest Pee-wee Herman collections in the country. He even met Paul Reubens, who played the character of Pee-wee Herman, before he died.

“Everybody knew me as a Pee-wee guy,” Leon Lewandowski said.

He’s also a perennial game show contestant, appearing on shows such as “Supermarket Sweep,” “Shop ’Til You Drop” and “What’s on the Menu,” a game where contestants prank their friends at a restaurant by doing saying strange things to win money.

However, winning the America’s Favorite Couple contest is no rib or prank for this couple. They are serious and see it as a way to acknowledge their deep commitment and chemistry over the years. They both are elementary school teachers and love serving others.

“I figured if we got the city of Santa Barbara to back us up, we can’t lose,” Leon Lewandowski said.

No matter what happens in the contest, they have already won in the contest of life.

“He and I are like each other’s best friends,” Mary Lewandowski said.

Sometimes, that’s all it takes.

To vote and learn more about the contest, visit Leon and Mary | America’s Favorite Couple.