Posts Tagged ‘The Celebrity Apprentice’

Celebrity Apprentice: Annie’s friends rally for her

May 11th, 2009

The Celebrity Apprentice finalist Annie Duke may have not come out on top in last night’s season finale – she lost to sworn nemesis Joan Rivers.

But the Apprentice friends she made during the 14-week process, which raised nearly $1.6 million for charity, seemed to be the most upset over her defeat.

“I feel a little disappointed,” Claudia Jordan told me on the red carpet for the Celebrity Apprentice after-party at NYC’s American Museum of Natural History last night.

“Even though I had my differences with Annie, you cannot take away the fact that she raised the most money.”

 

Brande Roderick has her own theory on Donald Trump’s pick to win.

“I know that it is television so there’s reason behind it, and I do know that Joan Rivers has a new show out with (Apprentice producer) Mark Burnett, so obviously they did it for those purposes, it would be great for their publicity,” she said.

Joan is hosting a new show called How’d You Get so Rich for TV Land this fall.

Brande concluded, “Annie’s the one who actually really earned it and deserved it.”

It’s great to have your friends rally around you when you’re down.

Still, it’s hard to ignore last season’s Celebrity Apprentice winner Piers Morgan, who pointed out that—in the finale numbers game—Joan did come out on top.

“Annie blew the finale,” he declared, referring to the sparring gals’ final Kodak branding silent auction challenge.

“There were five criteria. Joan won three, and Annie won two. Game over,’ Piers continued.

“Annie’s a poker player, and three-of-a-kind always beats a pair.”

While Joan may be rethinking her last heated exchange with the card champion, Annie has already made her decision on whether the two women can ever make amends.

“I’m not interested in people who attack people the way that she does,” she told me.

It’s just business, until it does get personal!

 

For more behind-the-scenes scoop from the after-party, check out Mary Rambin’s video coverage of the even for Kodak here.

Celebrity Apprentice Recap: Claudia’s out!

March 23rd, 2009

Our Celebrity Apprentice celeb blogger Claudia Jordan explains why her head was on the chopping block this week.

“For the fourth project I decided to step up and volunteer to be Project Manager.

It seemed like no one else was anxious to step up for such a daunting project, which surprised me.

As bossy as a few of my teammates were, I was actually shocked that they weren’t dying to be boss.

But I suppose some would rather boss from the back seat than to actually step up, take the wheel and drive.

We had a huge challenge to promote and launch the ACN videophone. I had never heard of it but was informed they did a half billion dollars in business in a year. In a recession. Sweet!

We were struggling at first to come up with direction for this project.

I was sort of amazed by my team that on all the other tasks they seemed to be so eager to step up, take initiative and do things without being told.

But soon as I was PM I felt that they needed to be micro-managed in every aspect of the challenge. And if they weren’t, they would criticize me.

Joan Rivers was absent for yet another task. I was amazed that it was okay for her not to be with her team again!

I had a gig that I had to just lose on a weekend because I didn’t want to leave the city on my day off, and she was off and about several times during our taping!

But I really like Joan. I knew she was a professional and would be able to step up when I needed her. Still would have been nice to have her in the brain storming sessions.

Joan was stuck in Texas with no late night flights, and Natalie Gulbis took some initiative to arrange for that private jet that brought Joan back in time.

I worked hard as I possibly could, and I got to tell you, after our run thru, it wasn’t looking good. Our show was a mess. I saw the doubt in everyone’s eyes.

But I am never good in rehearsal, so I wasn’t as worried. I knew we were going to be fine. By show time everything went off without a hitch.

I really thought we had won and all of a sudden all my doubtful teammates were friendly to me again, wow!  I was nervous but I thought we had pulled it off.

In the boardroom, we were informed that the ladies had lost our first challenge. I saw how quickly people change and will say and do just about anything to not jeopardize themselves.

A few times I heard some of my team speaking negatively about Tionne from TLC. And I quickly defended her. I thought for sure when I needed her, she would come to my defense.

Or my girl Brande Roderick or Natalie… Anyone? Nothing! This was the most hurtful part of the show, to watch them one by one not want to stand up to Melissa Rivers because they knew they would have the wrath of Joan as well.

In the end, I asked Khloe Kardashian and Melissa back into the boardroom. Khloe was stressed because she had a plane to catch to get back to court for her infamous DUI.  I didn’t know that before I asked her back.

I think she took it extra personally, and in the lobby the very fake Melissa was consoling Khloe, which was hilarious since that was the most I saw them talk the entire time.

It was clear I was out numbered and I prepared for those two words: “You’re fired!”

In the end I was sent packing. It didn’t hurt being fired by Trump, but it did hurt being disappointed by women I thought cared a little bit more.

Trump told me if one person had spoken up for me, I would have not been fired. But since it was unanimous…he couldn’t justify not firing me.

At the end of the day, Trump has integrity and for that he has my respect.

Boy, I can’t wait to come back for the finale in May!”

Xoxo
Claudia

Catch more episodes of Celebrity Apprentice Sundays at 9 pm. On NBC.

 

Celebrity Apprentice Recap: Episode 3!

March 16th, 2009

She’s back! Guest blogger Claudia Jordan breaks down episode three of Celebrity Apprentice."

"Last night’s episode makes three victories in a row for the ladies.

Tom Green, who jumped at the opportunity to put on a wedding dress, as the task was to raise the most cash selling gowns, led the men’s team.

Thirty-second-summary: Dennis Rodman and Herschel Walker went missing-in-action, and I believe Dennis was hung over after a night at the bar, but he did say that he touched a dog – or a cat – and had an allergic reaction.

Tom was accused of being late to task when he was the leader. It seemed after last week’s loss the team had it out for him.

Once again, then men seemed to let super egos take priority over success. That’s clearly why they are falling apart.

Team Athena had thousands of dollars coming in, and I felt there was no way we could lose unless something really incredible happened on the men’s side.

We raised a whopping $103,000 compared to the men’s team, which raised $61,000. We win, again!

I was still very under the weather, so I was really happy to get back to our room to relax and celebrate!

Okay, here’s what bothered me about this episode: They edited so much footage out!

I worked my butt off and so did Tione (T-Boz of TLC), and they really didn’t show us at all.

I worked with the designer to make the outside of our store appealing and inviting. I called in a favor and got an actual red carpet to be rolled out in front of our store.

I pulled another favor and got a store to donate six mannequins for us to use, and I also got a friend to get a couple models to come down and model gowns for us. None of that was shown.

When the foot traffic got low, Khloe Kardashian and I walked up and down the street solicit customers.

I had a New York publicist Marvet Britto send some of her socialite friends down, and they spent thousands.

I even went to the men’s store and tried to steal some of their customers. It was a lot of work. I tried gowns on for customers!

But at the end of the day, the important thing is that we came together as a team and did very well.

Brande Roderick was a great project manager. She got the job done without being bossy or mean, and she brought in a lot of cash.

Joan Rivers got QVC to bring in a nice amount of money, $25,000.

And Annie Duke, who never fails to get the bug bucks, didn’t let us down one bit. She got one of her friends to fly in and spend $10,000 for one dress.

This week we all got along much more. We were so busy with the task there was really no time for bickering.

Joan was gone again for the first day. It was only our third task and this was the second time she was gone! But we still kicked butt.

Please come back next week as I step up and become Project Manager. Can the ladies continue the winning streak? Stay tuned and find out!"

xoxo,
Claudia
Team Athena

Catch Claudia in Celebrity Apprentice on Sundays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Claudia Jordan’s Celeb Apprentice blog!

March 9th, 2009

TV Fanatic loves an inside scoop!

 

The Celebrity Apprentice’s Claudia Jordan is taking over Monday’s columns to recap the show. Claudia, fire away!

 

"Just finished watching the second episode of Celebrity Apprentice, and I must say it was so interesting to see how the editors and producers put it all together.

I was on Team Athena with the rest of the women. After winning last week’s task we wanted to show that it was more than just a fluke – we’re a force to be reckoned with!

Creating that comic book character and a costume for the online shopping site Zappos.com. should have been easy, but when you gather eight different personalities in a room with super egos, something that should take an hour took about eight with six hours spent talking about nothing.

 

I then had an epiphany and shared my idea with my group.

As we fleshed out the character, Donald Trump Jr. came in our room to check on our team and asked who came up with the idea for our character. Melissa Rivers immediately claimed credit and said "It was me!"

I was shocked, but bit my tongue. While I did want Mr. Trump to be aware that I was working hard and contributing creatively, I had to chose my battles. At one point Joan Rivers leaned over to me and whispered, "You better speak up, they are trying to steal your idea," they being Annie Duke and Melissa.

At the end of the night I started to get severe chills. My throat closed up and I could barely swallow. I held back the tears and kept working; I did NOT want to leave my team.

With an hour or two left before quitting time, several of my teammates demanded that I go home and get rest so I would be okay to deliver the presentation the next morning.

I kept pleading that I still wanted to work – I didn’t want to later be accused of not being a team player. At one point a prescription had to be called in for me and I had to take antibiotics because doctors thought I had some sort of infection in my chest.

I was stuffed up and had a fever, chills, sore throat and a huge swollen gland in my throat.

 

My teammates were concerned that I was contagious and I was sent home. I said I didn’t want to but that I also didn’t want to infect my team as well. I hated to leave my team, but they insisted.

What you didn’t see on television was that I had made bets and told the girls that we were going to win three challenges in a row. So even though I left, I felt that we were going to be okay.

But once again, Annie was very overbearing and bossy. She can’t possibly be listening to others if she is talking that much!

 

In my opinion, she’s very immature in the way she relates to other women. It was a constant battle with her and that was energy wasted where we could have used it elsewhere.

 

Good communication is so vital to being successful when it comes to dealing with others, and I’m proud that I can talk to people without disrespecting them.

I got myself together so I didn’t look too sick the day of the presentation, but I absolutely was.

 

I was light-headed, dizzy, weak and nauseous from all the cold medicine and antibiotics in my system.

Joan and Melissa were absent on the day of our presentation. They had prior engagements and had the day off, so I really felt the added pressure.

 

There were quite a few times that team members were absent for various reasons. When this would happen the rest of us had to do our best to step up.

I definitely stumbled a bit during the presentation, but made a few jokes to clean it up a bit.

I was pretty relieved when it was over, but was also disappointed by my performance and wished I hadn’t gotten sick.

 

I am radio host and I have done stand up comedy a couple times and I knew if I had been 100% I could have really knocked the ball out of the park.

 

But there was nothing else I could do at that point but sit and wait for the results.

Tensions were building between Melissa and I because I felt she blatantly disrespected the others and I by outright stealing credit for my idea and constantly talking over everyone else. I’m really big on respect. My mother raised me to show that to others, so I’m constantly conscious of it.

Luckily, Khloe Kardashian spoke up and said, "Actually it was Claudia who came up with the skeleton, and we built from that." Redemption! And I didn’t have to be the bad guy, nice!

Joan and Annie started to not be on the best of terms in this episode as well. Annie really rubbed Joan the wrong way by shunning her out of writing the script.
Annie was behaving like the project manager, again, when she wasn’t. That started a real rift between the two.

My team doesn’t always pay attention to some of our members who had lots of life experience to draw from. T-Boz owns a successful store in Atlanta. At times I felt I was sticking up for her. You really have to fight to get heard.

 

But in the boardroom the men clearly weren’t getting along. They had some serious teamwork issues, and it made our tension seem almost civil in comparison.

My team won and avoided having to go to the boardroom and tear each other apart. Then men went at it and in the end Scott Hamilton was fired. It was pretty obvious he and Tom Green did not like each other.

Thanks for visiting, and please check back next Monday for more behind the scenes of the show!"

xoxo,

Claudia

 

Celebrity Apprentice airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on NBC

 

Celebrity Apprentice Winner Speaks!

March 28th, 2008

Last night as I sat in the third row balcony of Studio 8H for the live finale of The Celebrity Apprentice, I noticed that finalist and country singer Trace Adkins’ wife and daughters were sitting a few rows away from me. Coincidence? Maybe. By the end of the night, British tabloid journalist and America’s Got Talent judge Piers Morgan — who raised nearly a half million dollars for his charity, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund — claimed the Celebrity Apprentice crown and a $250,000 grand prize donated to his cause. And his mum was seated on the studio floor!

Piers believes the title was fairly earned. “I had won the most challenges and raised more money than all of them put together. I deserved to win on a business level, but I also realized that wasn’t the only criteria,” Piers told me at the Apprentice after-party. “What I think swung it for me was the soldiers coming on stage and reminding people how important that charity was.”

Piers doesn’t deny his evil persona that unveiled onscreen. “I don’t think you can hide from the camera or not reveal all your characteristics. I’m quite happy with the way I came over,” he said. “I like to laugh, I like a scrap and I like to win. I like to raise money.” As for his on-going feud with Omarosa, Piers would only exclaim, “I don’t ever want to hear that name in my life again!”

Now my mama goes crazy every time I do something special. How did Piers’ respond when her baby won? “My mom was very thrilled,” Piers shared. “She’s never been to America in her life, she hates flying and she flew out just for this. I’m really pleased to have her here.”

Supermodel Carol Alt was the lone eliminated Apprentice contestant who supported Piers before Donald Trump made his final decision. “You got to hand it to Piers; he raised a ton of money,” she said. But Carol declares the outcome would have been much different if she and Piers had gone head-to-head in the final challenge. “I would have mopped the floor with him, in four-inch heels and a corset,” she laughed.

Ousted Celebrity Apprentice: Omarosa!

March 13th, 2008 / Author: cwillett

The Celebrity Apprentice competitor Omarosa only has two words to say about the heated on-air feud between her and Piers Morgan. Okay, maybe three. “That Simon wannabe,” she laughs. Omarosa, who got the heave-ho from Donald Trump after losing the art sale fundraising challenge last week, filled me in on what really started the war of the roses between her and her not-so-gentlemanly English competitor.

 

What really went down between you and Piers?

Piers told me he studied my DVDs from the first show, and the one character he related to the most and wanted to be like was me. So when he started coming at me from day one, I knew what was happening. For the most part, till episode six, I was pretty good about it, but his energy just turned really nasty, and I had to check him. I had to give a taste of Lady O, full-blown.

 

Is that the episode where you brought up his family?

I didn’t bring up his family. I brought up the fact that he was a terrible father. I don’t know the kids, but I know him, so that was just deductive reason. People have short memories. They forget when Piers was destroying Vinny Pastore to the point he was about to have a heart attack, and when Stephen Baldwin was pleading to leave the show because of him. Before me, he had his eyes set on torturing other cast members. When he brings his evil on you, you either crumble under the pressure, or you get tough. And I got tough.

 

Is the Omarosa we see on screen just a character you play?

When I wake up in the morning, I’m cool and mellow. If someone wants to push my bitch switch, that’s what they get. When I get into the boardroom, I’m extremely competitive. There’s no one in the boardroom better than me because I’m the baddest chic in there. Every one is multi-faceted, but America only gets to see my competitive side on TV. They don’t get to see me with my family or my clumsy, goofy side when I’m tripping over myself.

 

What charity were you playing for?

I was playing for a charity in Compton, Calif., called Positive Vibrations at the Tomorrow’s Aeronautical Museum. It’s a safe haven for kids, to get out of gangs or stay out of them. It’s a tough environment in South Central, so I serve as a mentor there. They are the greatest kids, and I’m the luckiest one because when I was on the show, they wrote me letters and called and sent me pretty pictures in support.

 

Will you get a chance to raise money for them in the future?

The great thing about losing on TV is that people feel so bad, they have reached out. The money is pouring in, and I’m just really glad they’ve had the exposure, which is half the battle. We’re doing a huge fundraiser on Saturday. People can get more information at my Web site, Omarosa.com, or Tamuseum.org.

 

Would you ever consider doing another reality show, Dancing With the Stars?

Please! Do you know somebody, can you book me? I actually went to one of their tapings and got to meet all the people. I would love to do that!

 

Well, we already know Omarosa knows how to rhumba!

 

The Celebrity Apprentice airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Ousted Celebrity Apprentice Speaks!

February 28th, 2008 / Author: cwillett

Ousted Celebrity Apprentice contestant Marilu Henner may have been sacrificed by a teammate last week, and surprisingly enough, it wasn’t Omarosa!

 

As project manager of selling a product on QVC, Marilu’s team lost because they didn’t tap into the network’s EasyPay payment plan, a little gem of information her team member, Carol Alt, failed to mention. “Carol and I had worked together before and she was very supportive that day,” Marilu tells me. “But now, after seeing the show and seeing her face, I realized she must have known, and she was just trying to take me out.”

 

Ouch! Even though Carol may have sold Marilu down the river, she admits the crown of cruel still belongs to Ms. O. “Omarosa’s a great girl, but you don’t get to see it, because you’re watching the character she’s chosen to play,” Marilu explains. “I watched the first episode and thought, ‘Damn, she’s got the best part. She’s the villain!’”

 

The QVC task was even more of a challenge since Marilu, who was her team’s on-air talent, suffered a technical glitch on live TV. “I was hearing another show in my ear piece,” she reveals. “I could sort of hear Piers [Morgan], but it was all garbled. They fixed it for the next guys.”

 

Double ouch! It just doesn’t seem fair that Marilu, who was one of the show’s nicer players, would walk away from this charity fundraising opportunity empty-handed. “Just keep watching the show, that’s all I’m saying,” Marilu teases.

 

Back in the real world, Marilu is getting ready to release her next book. “It’s called Wear Your Life Well: How to Use What You Have to Get What You Want,” she says. “The chapters are based on the best of classes I teach on my Web site, Marilu.com, which is everything from learning to love the foods that love you to using acting techniques to help create the life you’ve always wanted to have.”

 

Carol and Omarosa may want to sign up, soon.

 

The Celebrity Apprentice airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on NBC.

Fired Celebrity Apprentice Speaks!

February 12th, 2008

Anyone who thought the gals had it in the bag last week on The Celebrity Apprentice were in for a shocker (myself included!) when the ladies of Empresario and their new teammate Stephen Baldwin lost the Vera Wang/Serta mattress challenge to Hydra. That was bad news for Nely Galan, who Donald Trump sent packing.

“I think that he was just so upset that he lost Gene [Simmons] over me. I think that he really couldn’t get past it,” says Nely, referring to the first time Donald wanted to fire her. For those who thinks teammate Omarosa fed Nely to the wolves, she swears it’s not the case. “She did not want me in the boardroom,” Nely declares. “Donald really kept hounding her the same way he did with Gene.”

Ouch! Seems Donald really had out for The Swan creator and entrepreneur. But Nely wouldn’t trade the experience she had on the show. “It was like going to a grown-up boot camp with all these people you admire: an Olympic gold medalist, a rock star, a country singer and an actor. All these people are brilliant in different ways.”

As for money she could have won had she been named the Celebrity Apprentice that would have gone to her charity Count Me In, a group that offers grants and mentors to budding female entrepreneurs, Nely’s got that covered. “I didn’t come on the show to leave my charity in the lurch. The Celebrity Apprentice winner gets $250,000 for his or her charity. I’m happy to say, in record time, I raised $220,000 for mine,” she says. “You know who gave me the most money? Women entrepreneurs of America whose companies make more than $1 million.”

Women. We rock.

The Celebrity Apprentice airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

Fired Celebrity Speaks: Vinny Pastore

February 7th, 2008

Not many people get to tell Donald Trump “I quit!” But ousted Celebrity Apprentice Vinny Pastor, who played double agent against his own all-male Hydra team last week, got his chance when he resigned from the competition. Here’s why he decided to get out, before he got whacked.

Now that you’ve had some time, do you regret resigning?
When I look at the show again, I realize I was little impulsive by saying I would resign. Maybe Mr. Trump would have fired Piers Morgan. He wanted me to be fired. He needed Stephen [Baldwin], didn’t want to get rid of Trace [Adkins] and in no way was he going to get rid of Lennox [Lewis]. So he did everything possible to make me look bad.

Have you two made up?
He’s not somebody I socialize with; he lives in London. Will I see him again, I’m sure, but he’s not somebody I’d go to dinner with. You’re playing for charity, and. I was trying to have fun with it. I was truthful. It’s not all about winning.

Who’s in it just to win it?
Not Gene [Simmons], not Tito [Ortiz], not Lennox or Trace. Piers and Omarosa.
 
The Celebrity Apprentice is coming back for a second season. Who would you like to see on the show?
I heard that Donald wants to get Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan. I think it would be great for their image. It is for charity.

Did you know the show was going to give you a Sopranos-like send-off?
No, that was a big secret. When the screen went black, I was in my hotel room and I freaked. I was laughing to myself. I thought that was genius! I think Marilu Henner had me whacked!

The Celebrity Apprentice airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. on NBC.

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