The season premiere of “Celebrity Apprentice” took place last night, and boy, was it a bumpy, but fun, ride. Take a look at why this is officially our new Sunday night guilty pleasure…
This season’s “Apprentice” is jam-packed with some of our favorite celebs — from Star Jones to Dionne Warwick and, of course, NeNe Leakes. We don’t know about you but it’s clear to us why we’ll be watching for the next few week. Take a look at three reasons we couldn’t flip the channel last night:
LaToya Jackson forgetting the team’s name
The teams were split up into two — the men vs. the women. The men’s team, which called itself “Backbone,” to symbolize, you know, manliness, consists of David Cassidy, Gary Busey, “Survivor” winner, Richard Hatch, Meat Loaf, Mark McGrath, Lil Jon, and John Rich. The women’s team consists of Jackson, Jones, NeNe Leakes, Dionne Warwick, Lisa Rinna, Nikki Taylor, Marlee Matlin, and Hope Dworaczyk.
The women’s team called themselves “ASAP,” which was coined by LaToya. Great name, right? Except she couldn’t even remember what it stood for. “Artists, Singers and Actors Performing,” no LaToya. “Artists, Singers, Authors and Professionals?” Yes, there you go. The men’s team response to LaToya’s fumble? They’re already confused about their name — that’s never a good look.
Dionne Warwick on the credit card machine
The teams were dispatched to run two pizzerias in New York City where they had to raise money for charity. They also had to do everything themselves, from making the pies and cutting the vegetable, to working the register. Star dispatched Ms. Warwick to the register, which was a dang shame because even we could have told her a diva like that has no idea how to work a cash register. Despite a line out the door, Ms. Warwick wasn’t about to let Star get under her skin. “They’ll wait,” she said. Classic diva line.
Star Jones took charge
Star was elected project manager for the women’s team, and she took that task very seriously. After getting a $40,000 donation from obviously wealthy friends, Star makes an “executive decision” to close the pizza shop two hours early. Lucky for her, it paid off. The women’s team won the challenge, raising over $100K for the American Heart Association. One thing we can learn from Star is the importance of friends in high places. Go Star!
There were other highlights last night, including actor Gary Busey becoming the “Pepperoni Profit” and acting a fool on the street — but it worked. Actress Lisa Rinna trash talks Star Jones behind her back, but is surprisingly pleasant to her face (it’s reality TV after all), and former teen heartthrob is bullied by ‘Survivor” winner Richard Hatch. Poor David is left looking for a lifeline in baseball star Jose Canseco. Mr. Trump fires him. Adios David Cassidy, hello next week.
What was your favorite moment from last night’s “Celebrity Apprentice” premiere?