Fall TV Blog

Donald Trump is looking for a new Celebrity Apprentice!

The mogul and head judge of NBC’s business reality competition has tapped some big names for the new season, including colorful ’80s singers Cyndi Lauper and Bret Michaels, who were photographed on the set of a promo for the show.

In an effort to keep the entire cast a secret, NBC is not confirming any names at this time — but Sharon Osbourne, Former Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, baseball great Darryl Strawberry, celebrity chef Curtis Stone and comedian Sinbad were also spotted on the New York City set.

Tell us: Will you watch Celebrity Apprentice?

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Last night, the good guy didn’t finish first.

But nice is not what the Celebrity Apprentice is about. Piers Morgan, a Simon Cowell-like judge on “America’s Got Talent” successfully used his famous contacts (including Cowell), persuasiveness and a ruthless determination to win the live finale of The Celebrity Apprentice Thursday over audience favorite and country music star Trace Adkins.

“I made the right decision,” Donald Trump, the show’s creator and star, told PEOPLE at the after party in Rockefeller Center. “He raised the most money, and he won every event — by far. In fact, I should hire him, he’s a smart guy.” –Diane Herbst and Mark Dagostino

Although Morgan clearly out-fundraised Adkins, Trump did not make his decision until the final moments of the show, says his son — and show judge — Donald Trump Jr. “In my heart I was trying to come up with a way to give it to Trace because he is such an amicable and likable guy,” Trump Jr. told PEOPLE. “Piers played it to win the way we play our daily lives building buildings in the tough world of real estate. We perhaps like to live in that fantasy world where the nice guy wins but unfortunately in the real world that doesn’t always happen.”

There really were no losers. In all, Morgan raised over $500,000 for the Fallen Heroes Fund, while runner-up Adkins earned money for the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network as a tribute to his 6-year-old daughter Brianna who has severe food allergies. After Adkins lost, Brianna’s face fell and she looked sad. “Yeah, she was,” Adkins says. “I tried to tell her that Daddy won anyway and that more people are going to know about her food allergy situation. But she’s a really smart 6-year-old girl and she knows Daddy lost.” –Diane Herbst and Mark Dagostino

Ali Goldstein/NBC

Celebrity Apprentice is down to the final two! British tabloid editor (and America’s Got Talent judge) Piers Morgan, and country music star Trace Adkins have used their business acumen and boardroom battle tactics to impress boss Donald Trump each week to get to get to the final boardroom, where one will be hired and one will be fired. With one week to go before The Donald makes his decision, PEOPLE caught up with the two very different contestants by phone to ask them about their chances of winning, how they got to the finals and how the show has changed them. –Mark Dagostino

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It’s a different kind of March Madness on Celebrity Apprentice. Donald Trump announced a path-changing cliffhanger on Thursday’s episode, telling the Final Four that two more contestants would be fired from the boardroom before the next task. The news came just after Trump eliminated Stephen Baldwin, while Apprentice beasts Piers Morgan, Lennox Lewis and Carol Alt coasted to another victory, selling more Quizno’s Sammie sandwiches than Baldwin and Trace Adkins. (If there is one reliable thing about Celebrity Apprentice, it’s the weekly promotional tie-ins.)

So who’s going to take it all? We’re no Vegas odds-makers, but that won’t stop us from ranking our favorites — and predicting a first-place finish. Here’s how we see it:

Trace Adkins. Odds: 10-1. Although his strength and ability to sell has made him Teflon-slick, he’s not the business competitor that the rest of the field is. He also lost the Quizno’s task, making him ripe for elimination.

Carol Alt. Odds: 8-1. She’s quietly resolute and strong when she needs to be, but her relative flying-below-the-radar will hurt her in the upcoming elimination. It’s hard to see her moving ahead next week.

Piers Morgan. Odds: 3-1. Morgan has been an “MVP” (in Vinnie Pastore’s words) for most of the season. But his loud mouth and aggressive tactics put a bull’s eye on his head long ago. And he seems incapable of connecting with the average person. In a battle with his friend Lewis, Morgan appears an easier target.

Lennox Lewis. Odds: 5-2. Lewis is strongest in the most categories: leadership, celebrity, planning, creativity, political skills. Plus, Trump loves him. We give the champ the edge. – Nicholas White

Tell us: Who do you think will win Celebrity Apprentice?

George Pimentel/WireImage; EMPICS /Landov

Thursday’s Celebrity Apprentice marked the end of Omarosa’s reign of rough-housing when she was fired by Donald Trump who called the decision “easy.” Exclusively famous for appearances on Trump’s Apprentice series, Omarosa has been fired three times in the show’s seven-season history. It could be time for another job.

Her most recent firing was particularly delicious for U.K. tabloid editor (and Celebrity Apprentice front-runner) Piers Morgan, who feuded with Omarosa for much of the season. When she gave a parting shot to Morgan insinuating that he is gay, he returned to the boardroom to break the tension … planted a wet kiss on the cheek of country singer Trace Adkins. Everybody got the joke except Adkins.

What will become of Lady O? “She’s a great actor,” Jenna Jameson, who is dating last week’s eliminated contestant Tito Ortiz, told PEOPLE at Thursday’s Sleepwalking premiere in West Hollywood. “She should move into film after The Apprentice.”

Along with Morgan and Stephen Baldwin, UFC fighter Ortiz had a dust-up with Omarosa, trading words with her before Trump fired him last week. “On television, she’s fake,” Ortiz tells PEOPLE of his rival. “She’s just a big role. It’s an act, you could say … It wasn’t about a charity to her. From the beginning, it was always like that. It’s sad to see.” –Nicholas White

Tell us: Where will Omarosa end up next? Should she become an actress?

Tommy Baynard/NBC

On Thursday’s Celebrity Apprentice, Tito Ortiz showed that he may have taken one or two hard blows to the head in his UFC fighting career. While giving a presentation to executives from Dove and Redbook as his team’s project manager, Ortiz stumbled through his speech, hardly making a clear point. The fractured grammatical twists gave the suits pause as they listened, their brows furrowed in confusion about Ortiz’s words. Clearly, Ortiz was nervous about his speaking publicly and even forgot his lines (teammate Stephen Baldwin finished one of his sentences).

“You know the thing that surprised me?” Donald Trump asked Tito in the boardroom. “I’ve watched you fight many times, and you don’t look nervous. You just get in the ring and rip somebody apart. But you looked very nervous at that presentation.” Indeed. Here are some of Ortiz’s worst lines:

• “Of course, we’ll continue on,” he said after his presentation’s second sentence.
• “One of the things we tried to get across was country, desert, um — kind of a country desert feel to it. The reason is, that’s when skin is the driest.”
• “The horizon keeps going and going and going.”
• “The demographics we did have were ladies ranging from the age of 20, or excuse me 30 to 59, which most country folk, ladies, that would love Trace [Adkins]’s, you know, kind of to push the product exactly.”

WHAT?!

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After last week’s Omarosa/Piers Morgan fight, the reality TV villainess mostly kept to herself on Thursday’s Celebrity Apprentice. The Donald shook teams up to keep the peace and Omarosa switched sides with Taxi actress Marilu Henner. (Good thing, considering Morgan said on this week’s and last week’s shows that “I don’t ever want to talk to Omarosa again in my entire life.”) Despite one minor dispute with Stephen Baldwin over preparations, Omarosa stayed behind the scenes, helping to produce a QVC live commercial for a vacuum sweeper.

The night’s other story was that former heavyweight champ Lennox Lewis, who has flown under the radar thus far, was defended by Donald Trump, though his teammates criticized his lack of energy. “Lennox clearly had too much to drink and had no sleep,” Morgan said. “That should be his new fighting title, Lennox ‘Sleepy Boy’ Lewis.” The champ in his own defense, said that Morgan had “diarrhea of the mouth,” and hoped for a switch to flip Morgan’s mouth off.

Even in the boardroom, team leader Henner laid blame at Lennox’s feet: “You were very low-key in the morning,” Henner said. “You were lower key than anyone else on the team.”

But Trump had Lewis’s back. “Lennox isn’t the reason you lost,” Trump said. “I’ve seen Lennox sleepy in the ring, and knock the guy out. Don’t be deceived.” And on The Donald’s show — where his daughter Ivanka and son Donald Jr. are his advisers — only his word matters. “Marilu, you’re fired,” Trump ruled. “You are a terrific woman, but get the hell out of here.” –Nicholas White

Tell us: Does Lennox Lewis stand a good chance to win? Who will Omarosa fight with next?

Justin Stephens/NBC>

Thursday’s fight between U.K. tabloid editor Piers Morgan and Omarosa got ugly, when Lady O pelted team leader Morgan with personal insults. “The mother of your children hates you Piers, and your children hate you,” she said, as teammates Carol Alt and Lennox Lewis sat by quietly – smirking, but clearly horrified. “They’re embarrassed by you. … Is there another man raising your children?”

The usually cool-as-a-cucumber Morgan, who was three children, retaliated, saying, “Leave my kids out of it!” (He is separated from his wife, Marion Shalloe.) He also called Omarosa, ducking behind a ghastly red hat, a “disgusting little tramp,” “piece of slime,” and “one of the most venomous poisons I have encountered in 25 years of business.” The tab editor added, “Every other sentence from her mentioned my children.”

In the post-show interview, Omarosa said, “It was going about below the below the belt. In fact, I kicked him in the —-.”

All the animosity didn’t leave any blood on the boardroom table, however. When Morgan and Omarosa’s team won, Donald Trump didn’t have the heart to fire anyone on the other team. Thus, no one went home. Oh, and porn star Jenna Jameson made a cameo appearance and managed to emasculate her boyfriend of a year-plus Tito Ortiz on-camera. Weak! –Nicholas White

Tell us: Is Omarosa just a character, or as she is as nasty as she seems on TV?

Justin Stephens

The cast of Celebrity Apprentice gathered Thursday night at Tenjune, the popular club in Manhattan’s trendy Meatpacking district, to watch the boardroom action at a viewing party for the show. Marilu Henner, Omarosa, Tito Ortiz, Stephen Baldwin, Nely Galán and Donald Trump himself (with wife Melania, son Donald Jr., and daughter Ivanka in tow) were all on hand.

After a champagne toast with executives from Kodak (who were featured on last-week’s episode of the show), Trump took a spot in the VIP section to watch the drama unfold. “This is a great scene!” he said, as Stephen Baldwin came into the boardroom to resign due to a conflict with tabloid editor Piers Morgan, who wasn’t at the party. Trump didn’t accept his resignation, and instead, moved him over to Empresario, the women’s team. Team leader Omarosa “respectfully” declined the switcheroo but, as Trump pointed out, he’s the boss and so Baldwin stayed.

Trump, about halfway through the show, walked over to the women of Empresario, who were all gathered in one spot — still very much a team — and said to them all, “Melania just asked me, ‘Do the women EVER win?’” The ladies responded with mock horror and laughter as Donald moved over to the men’s banquette, where Tito Ortiz was busy snuggling with girlfriend Jenna Jameson.

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Thursday’s two-hour Celebrity Apprentice — riding high after NBC renewed it for a second season — was an all-out espionage fest. Sopranos star Vinnie Pastore infiltrated the women’s team and ended up the proverbial rat, resigning after a rivalry with Piers Morgan turned ugly.

Speaking of… The shoe company Crocs — which many fashionistas have dismissed as plastic clogs — was front and center on Thursday’s episodes. Celebs competed to design a charity ad campaign, SolesUnited, for the fast-growing enterprise. “Crocs, I’m sure you all have heard of because they’re hot as a pistol,” fashion guru Donald Trump said. The goal, admirably, was to donate used shoes to impoverished communities in Africa.

But perhaps the show’s worst fashion offender is Omarosa. Lady O rocked a beret and gray, oversized sweater with black hose Thursday, harkening grown-up tones of ’80s Madonna or Breakfast Club’s Ally Sheedy. It’s actually the second time Omarosa has worn a beret, which she paired on an earlier episode with an ultra-mini skirt. Such risk!

“I don’t go by the trends,” Omarosa told us at last weekend’s Hugo Boss/Glamour Glam Style suite in L.A., of her fashion sense. “I choose things that make me feel pretty.”

Well, it could be back to the drawing board. – Nicholas White

ITommy Baynard/NBC