‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Finale Recap: Donald Said It Was His Hardest Decision Yet!

It’s the ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ season finale — Click to find out the winner!

Donald Trump had to say “you’re fired” one last time this season. Get all the info on what went down between country star John Rich and actress Marlee Matlin — it was such a close call!

Marlee’s team of LaToya Jackson, Meat Loaf, and Richard Hatch, finally secured the help of 1970’s 7-Up spokesman Geoffrey Holder, making their team much more competitive with John’s

John Rich’s team included Lil’ John, Star Jones and Mark McGrath, and thankfully John was able to put his ego aside in order to make amends with Def Leppard. The band got their way when John decided to nix the kick drum idea.

The entire cast came back to sit and watch the finale, but also to talk smack about each other in front of a studio audience. Everyone, that is, except Richard Hatch who is now in jail again for tax evasion.

Donald asked Gary Busey the question everyone was wondering all season: ‘Are you crazy?’ He answered that he is mysterious, but was actually way funnier and seemed more normal than he ever did on the show. He even made fun of himself for his terrible pitch for Omaha Steaks.

Marlee did a great presentation on her charity, The Starkey Hearing Foundation, but the commercial she produced was pretty cheesy. The Harlem Globetrotters were the finishing touch and even Donald looked like he was satisfied with the finished result. Overall, her event went smoothly and she seemed extremely confident when it was over.

At John’s event, the 7-Up executives were disappointed that no one met them at the door like Marlee did, but his commercial featuring Dee Snider was a huge hit with the audience. Then disaster struck — John Rich introduced Def Leppard at 6:40 but didn’t have them scheduled to go on until 7:00 p.m. It was a total cricket noise moment while Donald looked around in utter disbelief.

Somehow he was able to refocus and come on stage to perform a few songs before Def Leppard actually did come out and play.

Donald’s meeting with the 7-Up people went well and they announced that both team’s soda cans will be available nationwide.

Maybe the best part of the episode was the montage of Nene Leakes throwing temper tantrums throughout the season. I have to hand it to her for sticking to her guns and not taking back a word she said.

Marlee and John had a chance to sit down with their teams in the board room with Donald, Ivanka, and Donald Jr. They had a chance to hear how their opponent’s event went and critique their can designs. There was no doubt about it that John Rich’s 80’s zebra print can was more impressive. Marlee also found out that John Rich had been raising money for his charity, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, despite the fact that this project was not based on fund raising.

After forty-five minutes of filler, Marlee and John made their final plea to Donald about why they should be the winner. Marlee argued that she has struggled with barriers because of being deaf and never took ‘no’ for an answer, while John argued that the winner of Celebrity Apprentice should be judged based on the contestant’s overall body of work.

In the very last second of the show, Donald decided — it’s John Rich’s win! Are you thrilled or did you think Marlee deserved it more?

— Brooke Peoples