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Last night on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ was a very emotional night. As you all know, Bret Michaels got hospitalized this Friday for a stroke. The doctors said he may not make it, but he was there.
The show was live, so there was an audience. They started off by showing the rest of the clips from the Snapple project. Holly’s team named their Snapple ‘Compassion Berry’. With all the taste testing, and commercials and ads, this may have been the hardest task yet. But, they definetly gave it their all. When it was Holly’s turn to do her presentation, Maria and Curtis handed out their ads to each table and their new Snapple, “Compassion Berry”. The commercial was shown and the workers from Snapple seemed to like it. Bret’s team was a huge success too. They went for the “funny” side of things and showed their entertaining commercial. It went back live and they showed clips from last weeks show, most of the fired ‘Apprentice’ stars came out and talked about their best moments, worst moments, etc. Donald asked Maria why she brought up what she did in the boardroom last week. She admits it was a mistake. The two finalists came out, Holly was in a gorgeous silver dress, and Bret in his usual bandana. Bret came out strong, a fighter. Limping though. They talked, about their relationship, and how much they respected each other, about Bret’s condition. Everyone watching, was probably crying. Cyndi Lauper performed a song off of her new album, “Memphis Blues”. It went to a commercial, when they came back, they announced the winner. “Bret… You’re hired.” Everyone came over to hug the two finalists and the show went off air. I can’t believe this season is over! Congratulations Bret!

Thanks so much to Alicia of M-Kanellis.piczo.com for providing a recap for MKO.

It wasn’t surprising that Bret Michaels, the lead singer of Poison, was named the winner of “The Celebrity Apprentice” Season 3. What was surprising is that he even made it to “The Celebrity Apprentice” live third-season finale (which aired May 23 on NBC), without showing any outward signs that he had gone through a brain hemorrhage, an appendectomy, a mini stroke and a defective-heart diagnosis all within a span of a few months. Michaels had been released from the hospital just two days before the finale (after experiencing the stroke and after doctors found a small hole in his heart), and his speech and behavior were pretty much the same as they were before his recent health problems. “The Celebrity Apprentice,” hosted and executive produced by Donald Trump, features stars competing on various business tasks to raise money for their selected charities. Michaels’ chosen charity was the American Diabetes Foundation.

All of the former contestants of “The Celebrity Apprentice” Season 3 (except for Goldberg and Sharon Osbourne) attended the live finale show at the Skirball Center in New York City, and then celebrated at the after-party, which was held at the Trump SoHo Hotel. I caught up with many of “The Celebrity Apprentice” stars at the after-party, including a triumphant Michaels, who seemed to get rounds of much-deserved applause everywhere he went. Holly Robinson Peete, who came in second place to Michaels in the final round of the show, was very gracious about not being named the winner, because she (like the rest of the contestants) did not lose sight of the most important goal: to raise money and awareness for charity. Here’s what some of “The Celebrity Apprentice” Season 3 stars had to say when I chatted with them at the after-party.

Which do you like better: wrestling or reality TV?
I love all of it, and I love singing now. It’s one of those things that I think everybody grows from it. Everybody transitions from one thing to the next. You might love something for a while, but once you feel it’s enough, maybe it’s time to move on. Now that I’m involved in singing, it’s incredible, because I wrote the music and the lyrics. I know what I was going through, so being able to come from that place — it’s all mine — that’s really cool.

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NBC’s hit reality show Celebrity Apprentice is still running strong, airing on Sunday nights at 9 PM ET and this past Sunday night, the latest celebrity to be fired by Donald Trump was Maria Kanellis. The former WWE Diva recently held a conference call to discuss her appearance on the show and here’s what she had to say.

It was so enjoyable to watch your run on the show and I – my question for you is, how awkward was it when you found out that you had to work with Curtis, you know, in this last episode after you had been fired, after that remark in the board room?

Maria Kanellis: It was awkward for a little while, and then we got over it. We just really wanted to get down to task and help Holly out as much as possible, but it was a bit awkward when we first started.

And now are you and Curtis best friends?

Maria Kanellis: Not best friends, but we’re working our differences out.

Maria, obviously, you know most of us are used to seeing you playing a character on television, and you know even though this is a reality series, obviously we got to see more of the real Maria. Was that kind of something that you wanted to achieve, what sort of was the motive for you to take part in this series?

Maria Kanellis: Well, the first thing was just doing stuff for charity. I’ve always like Make a Wish Foundation, so to be able to work for them was great. And I did make a bit of money for them, not as much as I would have like, but I did make a bit of money for them. But, it was also nice to start showing that side of me that, you know, is me and is the real me. And I’m quirky and weird at times, but you know – and also I grew up where it was a very hard working family. So, doing the manual labor was so much easier than some of the other stuff, so I was happy for that.

The penultimate episode of The Celebrity Apprentice was anything but predictable, with viewers seeing three more famous faces fired and this season’s final two revealed. WWE superstar Maria Kanellis was the first to go – shortly followed by Sharon Osbourne and Curtis Stone – after Donald Trump asked the stars to explain why they should stay and why someone else should be sent home. We caught up with her as she chatted with reporters about what advice of Trump’s she will always remember, being pocket-dialled by Sharon Osbourne and who she will keep in touch with.

Were you upset at all with the way you were fired? It seemed a bit of a let-down…
“It was big time a let-down. People make comments all the time in the boardroom that don’t belong in a work environment but we like to have fun in there. It’s not our full-time job, we are there working for charity. Some of the comments I’ve heard in the past in the boardroom have been a hundred times worse than what I said. I was a bit surprised. It was supposed to be a joke but it didn’t turn out that way. People have different senses of humor. I was crying, I was mad, a whole slew of emotions.”

Do you think the other players were starting to throw you under the bus?
“Yes I do think that. I think I was an easy target because you can easily say she’s younger than everyone else, she doesn’t have as much experience. That’s an easy way out. If you have to throw someone out you throw out whoever is the easiest because people can identify with that. But in all honesty I don’t think I was the weakest player at all. I worked hard, I had great ideas, I do have a lot of experience. I have almost 12 years experience between modeling and entertainment so I do have a few years of experience. Not as many as others, but it’s not like I was coming in fresh off the boat.”

By April MacIntyre May 18, 2010
“Celebrity Apprentice” contestant Maria Kanellis is pooped. “We worked six days a week until four in the morning, often times!” shared the WWE Diva who was fired with Curtis Stone on the last episode. On a conference call today, the ousted player shared her thoughts on the experience. On Bret Michaels, “When I actually got to work with him [Bret Michaels] I was thoroughly impressed with him.”

When asked who she thought would win, Kanellis tipped her hand diplomatically. “I am on Holly’s team, and I have a cousin with autism, so I am torn.”

On Holly’s money raising ability, Maria conceded Holly’s talent. “She is a machine.” And the Donald? “Donald sees what you do on task, and what ideas you have, he doesn’t see the celebrity.”

Her abrupt exit was discussed. “It was… it was a let down. People make comments all the time in the boardroom but this is not our full-time job, but I was a bit surprised, my comment was meant as a joke, but people have different senses of humor.”

On whether she ruined Curtis’s studly image, “I cannot stand arrogant men, and with Curtis I think its his Australian accent, it comes over arrogant; it’s totally his accent.”

On who she will remain friends with. “Oh Holly for sure…I’m sure I will keep up with Curtis,” she added. Why she did not step up as a project manager “Sharon really wanted to win money for her charity, it’s hard when somebody has colon cancer, and Bret has years of experience… it would be unintelligent for me to take over the task…”

And she’s starting a rock band too, “It’s my baby, end of summer I will be on tour,” Maria shared. Last thoughts? “No matter who the boss is, you have to remember that sometimes that they cannot see the creativity in the idea, you have to help them.”

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