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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: The Final Two Contestants Are Revealed

Andy Swift — Mon, 13 May 2013 03:01:06 +0000

Plus, six former contestants return to ‘assist’ in the final challenge before next week’s finale!

With only one episode left to go until the season finale, Donald Trump began the May 12 episode of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice by going on a firing spree. Now, the stage is set for the final two contestants to do battle in the boardroom during next week’s live finale!

Two Contestants Fired

Let’s not beat around the bush: In a surprising turn of events, Lisa Rinna and Lil Jon both received pink slips from the Donald after all four remaining finalists were called back into the boardroom to defend themselves one last time. But that wasn’t the only surprise in store for us this week…

Old Faces Return To ‘Help’

Penn Jillette and Trace Adkins were named project managers for the penultimate task, but because they couldn’t possibly complete it by themselves, the Donald brought back six former contestants to join them.

Along with newly fired Lisa and Lil Jon, this week’s episode saw the return of Marilu Henner, LaToya Jackson, Dennis Rodman and (my prince) Gary Busey!

Penn and Trace’s teams were tasked to come up with a new flavor of Walgreens Delish ice cream, then create a promo video and raise enough funds for an event to launch the flavors. Though the challenge centered around a delicious, sugary treat, you can imagine the drama between contestants — current and former — left a bad taste in everyone‘s mouths.

HollywoodLifers, who do you think will win next week’s finale: Penn or Trace? Do you think Lisa and Lil Jon deserved to fired tonight? Drop your final theories and predictions in the comments section below!

— Andy Swift
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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: Marilu Henner & Lil Jon’s Boardroom Battle

Andy Swift — Mon, 06 May 2013 02:58:18 +0000

Plus, John Rich returns to wrangle in the final five contestants.

The May 5 episode of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice hit very close to home, as Donald Trump tasked the remaining competitors with designing a suite based on the Foxwoods Resort, then throwing a party at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center. (By “close to home,” I mean my apartment is three-ish stops away from Barclays Center — in case you want to stalk me, or send me any of your dollars.)

Marilu Henner and Lisa Rinna were named project managers, and as you can imagine, the claws came out in the boardroom — but they weren’t scratching at each other!

Boardroom Battle: Marlu Henner Vs. Lil Jon

Lil Jon described Marilu’s leadership as “interesting,” hinting that she might have been a little too hands-on. In retaliation, she revealed she “didn’t trust” Lil Jon during the competition. She then claimed that Trace Adkins acted ”curmudgeonly,” which also apparently hurt the team.

Lisa and Penn Jillette pretty much just sat silent on the other end of the table, confident in their success. In fact, the pair only spoke to praise one another.

The executives unanimously picked Lisa and Penn’s project as the winner, bringing Lisa past a $500,000 milestone in fund-raising for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Who Got Fired?

Marilu ended up hearing the Donald’s two favorite — and most-dreaded — words this week. Once again, a project manager was punished for its entire team’s crime.

WATCH: Donald Trump Talks ‘Apprentice’ Secrets

HollywoodLifers, do you think the right celebrity was fired this week? Drop a comment below with your reaction to the results!

— Andy Swift
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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: Bret Michaels Returns With A Vengeance

Andy Swift — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 02:58:25 +0000

Plus, which celebrity did Donald Trump call a ‘stressed-out bitch?’

Donald Trump brought back Bret Michaels — the first person eliminated this season — to help him out on the April 21 episode of The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, and it’s a good thing he brought his trademark bandana along for the ride, because this week’s task had everyone sweating come boardroom time.

This week’s teams — led by Brande Roderick and Penn Jillette, respectively — were given the task of developing an interactive travel expo for South Africa Tourism, and as always, everyone had a different opinion about how each of their teams performed.

When asked about Gary Busey‘s performance, Lisa Rinna took a dangerously long pause before saying he did “very well.” (after a long pause), but Penn was a little more straight-forward. He questioned Gary’s methods in acquiring Zulu dancers for the exhibit, at which point Gary spewed the most insane poetic monologue — something about how Africa’s moon is also a heart and it represents the love of a woman. It made absolutely no sense whatsoever, and I loved it.

Thankfully, we’ll be getting at least one more week of genius rants from Gary, as Brande’s team lost the competition. The South Africa Tourism exes actually went to far as to call her team’s exhibit “juvenile” and suggest that it belonged “at an amusement park.”

Ouch!

After playing the blame game for a few minutes, Brande excused Lil Jon, bringing Marilu Henner and John Rich back into the boardroom. Bret basically called for Brande’s head, and the Donald certainly didn’t fight back.

Sorry, Brande; you’re fired!

HollywoodLifers, do you think the right celeb was fired this week? Drop a comment with your thoughts on what went down in (and out of) the boardroom.

— Andy Swift
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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: Melania Trump Gets [Spoiler] Fired

Andy Swift — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 03:00:15 +0000

This week, the celebs learned the most important lesson of all: Don’t cross the wife!

Donald Trump has kept his contestants shaking in their boardroom seats all season on The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice, but on the April 7 episode, the remaining competitors came face-to-face with a far more intimidating presence: The Donald’s wife, Melania Trump!

Both teams — led by Penn Jillette and Dennis Rodman, respectively — had to whip up a marketing plan for Melania’s line of beauty products, but the individual presentations ended up being anything but beautiful.

Gary Busey went on a crazy rant about caviar, at which point Stephen Baldwin said he was praying to the “Gary Busey Angels” to tie his tongue — but that was nothing compared to Dennis’ team’s debacle. They may have said all the right words, but she had no idea they misspelled Melania’s name on their poster!

“I cannot believe they spelled my name wrong,” Melania said. “It’s all over the place, and nobody noticed? It’s amazing.”

Brandee Roderick’s Boardroom Bus-Throwing

Without even listening to what Melania did/didn’t like about each team’s presentations, the Donald deemed Dennis’ team the loser for misspelling his wife’s name. (Duh!)

When asked which of his teammates was responsible for the flub, Dennis refused to throw any one person under the bus. Brandee Roderick, however, was quick to point out that Trace Adkins was responsible for the advertorial.

Dennis Rodman Vs. Trade Adkins

For the first time this season, only two people returned to the boardroom: Dennis and Trace, and because Dennis was the project manager, he was the one to go.

HollywoodLifers, do you think Dennis deserved to be fired? Drop a comment below with your response to all of tonight’s drama!

— Andy Swift
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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: Claudia Jordan Sets Her Sights On Omarosa

Andy Swift — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 02:57:49 +0000

But a major boardroom shocker saves Lady O for the fourth week in a row! Is she untouchable?

With LaToya Jackson out of her way, Omarosa thought she’d shaken off the last of her enemies, but she underestimated Claudia Jordan, who was out for blood on the March 24 episode of All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. The former Deal or No Deal model didn’t hesitate to throw Lady O under the bus after her team lost this week’s challenge — which, ironically, was to use a truck to create a marketing campaign for Farouk Systems Products. (Truck, bus, whatever.)

The executives loved Claudia’s team’s slogan — a joint effort by Lil Jon and Brande Roderick — but not enough to secure them a victory. In fact, the Farouk executives overwhelmingly preferred Marilu Henner‘s team’s truck, netting her a minimum of $50,000 for the Alzheimer’s Association.

Speaking of Marilu, she really couldn’t have been a better project manager. Her teammates lavished her with praise, including Gary Busey, who said she brought everyone together “like a drill instructor.” After much deliberation, Marilu decided that if her team lost, she’d bring back Trace Adkins and Gary — which sucked, considering Gary had just said how much he enjoyed working with her.

Fortunately, Marilu didn’t have to send anyone back into the boardroom, as the executives loved the way her team drew a crowd and kept everything entertaining.

Claudia Jordan Gets Fired

After Claudia admitted she was “devastated” to lose the challenge, Omarosa tried to saver he own skin by claiming Claudia didn’t listen to any of her suggestions. This clearly struck a chord (of fear) with Claudia, as she asked Lil Jon and Dennis Rodman to return with her, saving Omarosa yet again.

In the end, Claudia got the boot — and in my mind, she got what she deserved.

HollywoodLifers, do you think Claudia deserved to be fired? Do you think Omarosa will EVER be eliminated? Drop me a comment with your thoughts on tonight’s episode, and your predictions for the rest of the season.

— Andy Swift

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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Recap: LaToya Jackson Calls Omarosa A ‘Witch’

Andy Swift — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 03:00:27 +0000

Plus, Omarosa breaks down in tears — again. Is she stable enough to stay in the competition?

Just when you thought All-Star Celebrity Apprentice couldn’t get any more dramatic, Donald Trump literally forced his contestants to move their competition onto a live stage, with LaToya Jackson and Stephen Baldwin leading the two teams. Needless to say, not everyone was deserving of an encore.

The drama began immediately for LaToya’s team, as Omarosa left after one day for a “family emergency.” As it turns out, Michael Clarke Duncan‘s 9-1-1 call — which captured the final moments of Omarosa’s fiancé’s life — was going to be aired on national television, and she had apparently worked very hard not to get that released to the public.

For Stephen’s team, the drama came from an unlikely source: Gary Busey! Though he put forth his best effort with a smile on his face, Gary was almost-unanimously voted the weakest member of his team come boardroom-time. Stephen and Marilu Henner, among others, threw Gary under the bus — and he was pissed.

Did Omarosa’s Absence Cause Her Team To Lose?

The Crystal Light executives liked Stephen’s team’s performance, but were confused as to why the director chose to save Susan Lucci‘s entrance for the very end. As for LaToya’s team, the exes loved the “cheesy soap opera scene,” but worried things got “too” creative. Ultimately, they preferred Stephen’s team’s production, sparing that group from being fired.

Suspicious of Omarosa — as we all should be — Arsenio Hall grilled the reality TV villain about her decision to leave after the first day. She immediately started bawling, repeating that she will “unapologetically” choose her late fiancé over anyone any day. Donald noted that, if she had stayed in the competition, it’s possible they could have won.

LaToya Jackson Is Fired

In what Donald called one of the strangest boardroom selections in Apprentice history, LaToya asked Dennis Rodman and Brande Roderick to return with her. When asked why she didn’t bring Omarosa back, LaToya said she was convinced the TV villain would have lied her way to safety.

In the end, her instincts failed her, and LaToya was fired.

HollywoodLifers, did LaToya deserve to be fired? Do you think Omarosa is using her fiancé’s death to her advantage? Drop a comment with your reaction to this episode, and your predictions for the rest of the season.

— Andy Swift

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‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Premiere: Donald Trump Fires His First Victim

Andy Swift — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 03:59:38 +0000

The celebs go head-to-head for the first time, and Omarosa plays everyone like a fiddle.

Fourteen of Donald Trump‘s best and brightest stars, including season-nine winner Bret Michaels, returned for another round of boardroom drama on the March 3 premiere of The All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. And even though both teams clashed — with each other and among themselves — there was one thing every contestant could agree on: Gary Busey is out of his damn mind.

Rather than Donald Trump pitting the men against the women — wait, you didn’t know he was sexist? — the Donald appointed Trace Adkins and Bret as team captains. But since he couldn’t go the episode without being at least a little bit misogynistic, the Donald forced his celebrities to sell balls. Meatballs, that is.

Team Power

Omarosa may have been on Bret’s team, but she wasted no time declaring her intention to take him down. She even told Claudia Jordan she was Biblically inspired to get “vengeance” against the Poison front man — you know, because there’s nothing at all crazy about that.

Project manager Brande Roderick took some serious heat from her teammates in the boardroom, particularly LaToya Jackson, who said she was “unimpressed” by her weak leadership.

Ultimately, Brande’s team raised $230,533 and received an extra $20,000 from Kelly Ripa and Michael Strahan — for some reason.

Team Plan B

Plan B’s inner turmoil came courtesy of Trace and guest-judge Piers Morgan. In fact, Trace was so sure Piers would try to “push his buttons” that he convinced Gary to give Piers a special tour of the kitchen — a not-so-subtle attempt to get Piers out of the way for a while.

Despite that tension, Plan B actually managed quite a bit of success: Penn Jillette, Lisa Rinna, Dee Snider and even Gary convinced their celebrity pals to donate a nice chunk of cheese.

In the boardroom, Stephen Baldwin was called out for basically raising zero dollars for Plan B, to which he responded by saying he’d only be willing to give it 100 percent if he was project manager.

Plan B’s total amounted to $419,539, ensuring no one in their crew would be going home — this week, at least.

Donald Trump Fires Bret Michaels

The minute Team Power exited the boardroom, a nasty fight broke out between Brande and Omarosa. The former Playboy model tried to blame Omarosa for telling her a different amount than they actually raised, but as project manager, everyone agreed Brande should have been more aware of what was going on.

Brande chose to bring Bret and LaToya back into the boardroom — based solely on the amounts they raised, according to Omarosa — and proposed LaToya be fired first. Ultimately it was up to the Donald, who proclaimed:

“Bret, you’re fired.”

HollywoodLifers, do you think Bret deserved to be fired? If not, who should have been the first to go? Drop a comment with your reaction to tonight’s premiere, as well as your predictions for the rest of the season!

— Andy Swift

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‘All-Star Celebrity Apprentice’ Cast — Season 13 Pics

Andy Swift — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 01:24:59 +0000