Donald Trump is the Don King of television. That is, he talks a big game and oversensationalizes his projects to the nth degree. In pitching the latest twist on one of his shows, The Apprentice, the real-estate-mogul-turned-television-producer was trying to lure some big-name celebrities onto the new star-studded version.
Among the names bandied about was the holy trinity of ho-rrific Hollywood: Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, and Britney Spears. While those seemed realistically out of reach, TVGuide.com reported that Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Charisma Carpenter had signed on to the show as the first confirmed celebrity. Other names rumored to be on the shortlist were Carmen Electra, Tony Hawk, Joan Rivers, and George Foreman.
NBC today revealed the official list of celebrity contestants, and none of the aforementioned names were included. As for the list of "celebrities," fans may want to have their Googling skills handy, as the list of participants aren't exactly household names.
The following is a list of the 14 celebrity contestants, followed by why they are considered celebrities.
Trace Adkins--country music star
Carol Alt--former Sports Illustrated swimsuit model
Stephen Baldwin--actor in The Usual Suspects, Bio-Dome
Nadia Comaneci--Romanian Olympic gymnast
Tiffany Fallon--Playboy's Playmate of the Year in 2005
Jennie Finch--Olympic softball player and Fox sports broadcaster
Nely Galán--former president of Telemundo
Marilu Henner--actress in Taxi
Lennox Lewis--former heavyweight champion boxer of the world
Omarosa--former Apprentice star
Piers Morgan--America's Got Talent judge
Tito Ortiz--UFC champion, boyfriend of porn star Jenna Jameson
Vincent Pastore--actor in The Sopranos
Gene Simmons--OMG! Gene Simmons! (long-tongued KISS guitarist)
The Celebrity Apprentice will begin airing Thursdays starting January 3. All contestants will be working for charities, with the winner handing a check for $250,000 to the charity of their choice.
The contestants may be changing, but the rules remain the same. Trump will offer various challenges to the celebrities to test their business acumen, with their results judged by The Donald and his children Ivanka and Donald Jr. New to this season will be a "rotating seat" that will be occupied by "famous business leaders and industry legends."
Comments (28)
Jenna Jameson (in the picture) is a porn star... ;))
This sentence makes me laugh "The following is a list of the 14 celebrity contestants, followed by why they are considered celebrities." it is perfectly written. And really, who is that girl in the picture?
thats hilarious everyone hate trump so much they hav to resort 2 celebs ahahaha so funny i wud laugh so hard if rosie evey made it on there her gatting b fired shed probably strangle him lol
Gene Simmons was the bassist/vocalist of KISS, not the guitarist. ;)
I guess Gene Simmons just dropped into the "bottom of the barrel" club along with the rest of this cast including Donald himself.
Donald could've filled the roster with ex-wives and the women he keeps in condos all over Manhattan, Rosie and Martha would have been perfect..Is that Tito and his floating device?
why o why is Gene doing this?? does this mean his show will overlap on the apprentice?? we all knwo hell do just about anything for money but this is the worst that he could do...
will Piers fired from the US version too? that will be a first
Who?! On a serious note, they did this in the UK for Comic Relief. It was only 2 episodes long and knew the joke would run out of steam quickly.
But this version just sounds like overkill. When you reach celeb versions of old formulas, that's when you finally have common sense not to watch anymore.
This is goin to stink
OMG ... Is Gene hard up for money or something?
Oh.MY.God!! No way is another BALDWIN on a reality show! LOL...and that poor former president of Telemundo. Goodness. They would have good odds, although I can only hope Gene Simmons gets under Omorosa's last nerve!
"Tito Ortiz and something that may have once been Jenna Jameson."LMAO
I was really looking forward to Charisma Carpenter being on =(
Oh man!!!! I wish that Charisma Carpenter was on!!!! She knows how to push people's buttons and knows when to start a catfight!!!!:lol::lol:
:lol::lol:
Although I won't be watching it, I can almost guarantee that Gene will be the winner here, unless some of these other names I don't recognize turn out to be better, but I sincerely doubt it. Gene pretty much has been the business side of KISS for years. Plus he has a number of other products around as well, so, I don't see anyone even being able to come in anywhere near him.
Why, Why, Why do they have to put Omarosa on there? Now I am not going to watch it because I can't stand that WITCH with a capital B!!! I hated her from the moment I saw her on the other Apprentice's. Donald needs to get a clue.
Personally I hate reality's, but it'll be good to see what crazy antics Gene Simmons comes up with
who cares that show should have been cancled long ago
Other then Gene Simmons can anyone say washedup.
Gene Simmons is the only reason I would bother watching that piece of crap. Gene may be somewhat annoying but he's all business so it will be interesting to see how he does with Donalds challanges.
oooooohhhhh Nadia you're sooooo hot :D
I will be SHOCKED if you Gene Simmons doesn't walk away the winner. The guy eats, sleeps, and breathes business. I haven't watched the Apprentice since the first season, but I may have to check this version out.
Trump needs to stop. He is annoying and loves stroking his own ego.
Haha I agree with Water78, Martha would have been so humourous. Wow, this show has gone DOWNHILL, major "jump the shark". The only people here I recognize by name are Stephen Baldwin (my second favorite Baldwin, Omarosa (how'd that lawsuit ever go, you bad person!), Piers Morgan (uh...who cares?) and Gene Simmons (my "favorite" KISS member, but I don't really care for him). I'll have to tune in for the first episode to see how this one plays out, this sounds terrible though. I just want another normal season of The Apprentice.
i would have liked to see Martha on that list
Alternate caption for photo: Tito Ortiz and Daffy Duck
Alternate caption for photo: Tito Ortiz and the decaying carcass of Jenna Jameson