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The Celebrity Apprentice Season 5: Conference Call With Donald Trump, George Takei and Tia Carrere

Posted on 02/29/2012 by Todd in The Celebrity Apprentice and Cast Interviews

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Donald Trump, George Takei and Tia Carrere from The Celebrity Apprentice Season 5

by Todd Betzold

 

Two weeks in and we've had some tough boardrooms already on The Celebrity Apprentice, as Lisa Lampanelli and Victoria Gotti went head-to-head last week with both breaking down and crying, which was a shock to see for many. To talk about their experiences so far on The Celebrity Apprentice, Donald Trump, George Takei and Tia Carrere talked to reporters today in a conference call.

 

Q. Lou Ferrigno got physically upset when Penn Jillette said he was going to bring him back to the boardroom and you kept very calm and collected. Was that a strategic move to show you are a team player and you can take this and what was your mindset when you first heard what Penn was saying?
A. George: Well, we know two people have to be called in and this was a purely hypothetical situation and I was kind of surprised Lou got so agitated by that because it was not the real thing. Lou, I think, has a little bit of insecurity because of his hearing and he started going into all that fuss and I knew that this was the way the game was an particularly because I have so much admiration for Penn. He's a real hero of mine...one of the gifts I got from this whole experience was meeting Penn and we're planning on having lunch when I make it to Las Vegas next.

 

Q. This last episode we kind of saw a divide between some of the women...Lisa, Aubrey and maybe Teresa between some of the other women. Is that something you felt with Lisa as project manager that the teams started to split a little bit?
A. Tia: I think it is very apparent to people that know how to play to the camera and get their voices heard. There are others of us that have a much more understated style and unfortunately that sometimes gets mistaken for weakness or any sort of malleability, so it's easy for them to marginalize. Lisa was the project and she could do as she saw fit, which is anyone's prerogative when they are project manager, so I didn't take it personally, but it was very hard, by design we're in two separate vehicles. I mean, it's very, very difficult to communicate with someone that is hard to communicate with in the first place.

 

Q. Could you each talk about your charity and how you were chosen to be on the show?
A. Tia: I was introduced to my charity, After School All Stars, by Arnold Schwarzenegger about 18 years ago when we did some work together in east L.A. It's primarily an athletics after-school program, but now it has grown dramatically across America and they just recently opened an after-school program in my neighborhood in Hawaii and I got involved with the Hawaii chapter. I had just come back from living in Hawaii for two months and I thought, you know what, the money that Celebrity Apprentice provides for charities could make a huge difference in my personal neighborhood. It was a very personal thing getting into this.

 

George: My charity is the Japanese American National Museum and I've been on its Board of Trustees since its inception and served as Chairman of the Board from 2000-2004. It's a story of immigrants that came from Japan and their descendants...it was a time of loss and hardship. To summarize what my father had said after many, many years of discussion, he said both the strength and the weakness of American democracy is in the fact that it's a people's democracy and it can be as great as the people can be, but it can be as fallible as people are. I think it's a message important for all Americans and that's why we founded this museum...it's a cause near and dear to me. I was glad to be able to share my story with so many people through Celebrity Apprentice...too many Americans to this day are still unaware.

 

Tia: Yes, absolutely...it's unconscionable isn't it?

 

Trump: Just sitting here listening to that story, it is so hard to believe that could have happened. I want to tell you, George and Tia have been absolutely great contestants...they have been amazing. They're smart and they're sharp and they're tough. People don't realize how tough you are George, right? (laughs)

 

Q. How hard was it to know was Victoria was capable of, but not see it on the show?
A. Trump: Victoria is very capable...I've know Victoria for a long time. She's a very capable person...she made a mistake, but the mistake was...it could have gone either way between Lisa and Victoria...Victoria understands. I've known Victoria...she's very, very smart and I really like...I think she's a great person.

 

Tia: Yeah, I liked her a lot too, actually, even though I called her out in saying bring her back in, but I think Victoria Gotti's terrific. She's tough.

 

George: I got to know Victoria, as well, because we shared the car, just the two of us, on a couple occasions coming back from our tasks...she has that hard façade...she looks like a tough gal, which she is, but when you talk to her personally she's a very interesting person...certainly we know about her family background, but also her extensive entrepreneurialism. You always have to look beyond the front.

 

Tia: That's the best thing about Celebrity Apprentice...you inevitably get past the public persona and façade that people project and they get worn down and they get tired and they get grumpy and you really get to see to the core of people and you see which people aren't really nice and you see which people you thought were so sweet and nice, but whoa they got fangs.

 

Q. Two challenges into this season, were you guys raring to become project manager or were you more and more nervous about that?
A. Tia: I think the first two challenges people chimed up, oh I'm really great at that. I think I was one of the last people to jump on, so I wanted to give the game some time to play out and learn how it works. There's some technological things we needed to figure out, like we had brand new cell phones that I had a little difficulty figuring out, so I wanted to leave some space to learn and grow and learn the ropes and let other people make mistakes before I jumped in. I was very happy to take this time to research what goes in to being a project manager...where they might go wrong and where they might succeed.

 

George: I've been told I can share this with you, but I took on the project manager role for the task you are going to see Sunday. In the first episode when Paul said he could raise a six-figure amount, that quieted everyone down and we immediately gave it to him. But for me, trying to raise as much money for the Japanese American National Museum because right up front, if we won, there was a $25,000 prize, so I did take on the challenger of being a project manager, so stay tuned and you'll find out what happens.

 

Q. Was there anyone you were surprised to be a serious competitor this season, or someone has a personality you didn't expect?
A. Tia: I walked into the lobby and the first person I saw was George and I was like, George! They don't tell you...you have no idea who the other 17 people are, so it was nice to see a friendly face in the lobby as soon as I walked into the Trump Hotel and it just set everything off...it was perfect. I was happy to see you George, personally.

 

Q. The guy's team seem very cohesive right now, as the season progresses should we expect that to remain the same?
A. Trump: I can answer that...the answer is no! They become a total catastrophe and disaster...like it usually ends up, they become terrible enemies of each other...it's incredible.

 

Q. Obviously you have played a major role in the political process this year. Does NBC prevent you from mentioning your political leanings during the show, or is it strategical or editorial decision based on the nature of Celebrity Apprentice?
A. Trump: Very good question, they don't prevent me from doing it...they haven't said anything to me, per se, but I don't do it because I think it would probably be inappropriate, so I don't do it. Although I will say, Mitt Romney was very nice to me and his wife, Ann, who is a terrific woman is very nice...they thanks me. I do not do that in terms of Celebrity Apprentice or Apprentice...I don't think it would be the right thing to do.

 

George: Well you know, now that the show is almost over, next time I'm in New York, Mr. Trump, I might take you to Jean George for lunch and maybe we can discuss marriage equality. (laughs)

 

Tia: Hahahaaaaa (laughs).

 

Trump: I think that's a good idea George...you would be the perfect guy to teach me.

 

Tia: Good one George...good one.

 

George: You have an invitation.

 

Trump: Okay, you have a deal.

 

The Celebrity Apprentice airs Sundays at 9/8c on NBC.

 

(Image courtesy of NBC)

 

Follow Todd @tbetzold


  


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