'Spartacus' exclusive: Andy Whitfield battles giant cockroaches

"We were hitting the deck and it was brutal," Whitfield told me during an exclusive interview in New York. "Thank God Spartacus gets better at fighting as he figures this [out] and starts to win."

Whitfield and co-star Jai Courtney dealt with something scarier than getting beat up in "Legends," which airs at 9 p.m. Feb. 5 on Starz.

"Giant cockroaches," Whitfield said. "It was hideous."

In the scene Spartacus and his gladiator-in-training buddy Varro (Courtney) are thrown into the "hole"--a sewage pit--by their trainer, Doctore (Peter Mensah).

Watch the video above to see Whitfield explain how the scene was shot with himself, Courtney and a cameraman in a real pit--about 9 feet in diameter and very deep, the same as the restaurant booth in which the video above was filmed. (Excuse my bad camera skills.) It was filled with fake sheep's heads and other bones, trash, fake sewage and all kinds of nasty stuff--and those cockroaches.

I'll have more from my chat with Whitfield in the next week. Below are several clips from "Legends" and the episode description from Starz that I posted under Fluffers in "Spartacus."

LEGENDS
Premieres at 9 p.m. Friday on Starz. Here's the episode description and video sneak peeks:

Excitement ripples through the gladiator camp when a new festival of games is announced at the end of training. However, when the fight card is revealed, Spartacus (Andy Whitfield) is dismayed to find himself fighting in the lowest match against Varro (Jai Courtney), earning a mere pittance, while his rival Crixus (Manu Bennett) is fighting in the primus--the best match of the day. At the party the night before the fight, Spartacus decides to take the matter into his own hands when he purposefully attacks Crixus in front of the assembled guests who call for the fight to be continued in the arena the next day, leaving Batiatus (John Hannah) no other choice but to pair them together.

MORE SEX IN 'SPARTACUS'
MY 'SPARTACUS' REVIEW
SHIRTLESS: THE GLADIATORS OF 'SPARTACUS'
SHIRTLESS: SPARTACUS HIMSELF