The 18 new contestants of the upcoming season of “The Celebrity Apprentice” (season 5) have been announced by Donald Trump. The celebs will be forced to compete for the prize of $250,000 for a charity of their choice by completely challenging tasks.

Trump promises this is the toughest and biggest season of the 12 seasons of the Apprentice franchise. And Trump collected an incredible cast of idols, actors, models and reality stars to ensure a thrilling experience for the audience.

“It’s hard to top the last few seasons but we think we’ve done it,” Trump said. “We didn’t want to change much — we’re not looking to reinvent the show in its 12th season.”

“I think we have a great, very diverse cast,” he notes. “It’s amazing the abuse they take and the kind of work they put in.”

And the new contestants of the Celebrity Apprentice 5 are:

• Clay Aiken, former American Idol ( The National Inclusion Project)
• Michael Andretti, retired race car driver (Racing for Cancer)
• Adam Carolla, talk show host (Catholic Big Brothers)
• Lou Ferrigno, actor/bodybuilder (Muscular Dystrophy Association)
• Arsenio Hall, actor/TV personality (Magic Johnson Foundation)
• Penn Jillette, magician/TV personality (Opportunity Village)
• Dee Snider, former Twisted Sister singer (March of Dimes/Bikers for Babies)
• George Takei, from Star Trek (Japanese American National Museum)
• Paul Teutul Sr., from American Chopper (Make-A-Wish Foundation)

• Tia Carrere, actress (After-School All-Stars)
• Debbie Gibson, singer (Children International)
• Teresa Giudice, from Real Housewives of New Jersey (The NephCure Foundation)
• Victoria Gotti, from Growing Up Gotti (Association to Benefit Children)
• Lisa Lampanelli, comedian (Gay Men’s Health Crisis)
• Dayana Mendoza, Miss Universe 2008 (Latino Commission on AIDS)
• Aubrey O’Day, singer/actress/model [Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)]
• Cheryl Tiegs, model/actress (The Farrah Fawcett Foundation)
• Patricia Velasquez, model/actress (Wayuu Taya Foundation)

[image: NBC via HollywoodReporter]

Real Housewives of New Jersey star Teresa Giudice may be bankrupt in real life, but that doesn’t mean the BRAVO star won’t be good with pretend money on the Celebrity Apprentice!

Okay, okay – we know she’s technically not bankrupt “anymore“, but c’mon, which charity got stuck with her as their one hope for fabulous cash prizes?

According to reports, Giudice is now officially the second Real Housewife to go to work for Donald Trump - Real Housewife of Atlanta, NeNe Leakes, made a splash on C.A. just last season.

Thankfully, Teresa can’t be an worse than NeNe… can she?

I’m taking bets on how long into the first episode before another contestant makes a flipping the boardroom table remark.  Any takers?

[Image: Johnny Louis/WENN]

Bethenny Ever After and Former Real Housewives of New York star, Bethenny Frankel has landed herself on the cover of Forbes Magazine.

Frankel, who recently sold her Skinnygirl franchise for roughly $100 million, was named to Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list, which names the most powerful men and women in the entertainment industry.

The reality show veteran makes her debut on [Forbes'] list as the first TV personality to successfully launch–and unload–a brand on-camera.

Once the only tolerable RHONY, Bethenny has come a long way since her days of crashing with Jill Zarin in the Hamptons. According to Forbes, “Frankel foods, sodas, kids clothes and even a daytime talk-show are all in the works.”

Hats off to you Mrs. Hoppy – for making balancing career, motherhood and spot-on comedic timing look easy.

[Image: WENN]

Real Housewife of Atlanta, NeNe Leakes has never been one to take orders – and she’s not about to start now.  On last night’s episode of Celebrity Apprentice, the fiery Georgia Peach butted heads with Star “Bobblehead” Jones over which one of them should be the project manager for this week’s challenge.  Same story, different week.

Despite the supposed “truce”called by Leakes and Jones, fans of this season’s Apprentice shouldn’t be surprised over the latest round of the on-camera feud. Especially after ousted contestant Hope Dworaczyk gushed to E Online that,

Star was bossy and you couldn’t tell her any different…But NeNe was a bitch, too.  I love them both and I hate them both, because they were so hard to work with, yet, when we were in our down time, they were fun and enlightening and dancing on the floor…I hated them during The Apprentice.

Dworzczyk also told E that last night’s blowout between Leaks and Jones was, ”…the biggest catfight television has seen,”

Considering NeNe’s Apprentice past squabbles and her track record with fellow Atlanta Housewives Kandi Burruss and Kim Zolciak, that’s saying a lot.

SPOILER Alert!

Will “The Real Housewives of Atlanta” NeNe Leakes be fired? NO. The tension between the housewife and former “The View” co-host Star Jones leads to one big dramatic final confrontation, according to MediaTakeOut.

2011 Celebrity Apprentice Season 4 Cast (Bios, PHOTOS)

Star and NeNe basically hate each other. NeNe is one fierce and determined woman. So, she is not going to let Star walk all over her. After one heated fight on the set, NeNe hopped into a cab to never return. Yeah, NeNe simply left. The End.

Star Jones vs. NeNe Leakes: Celebrity Apprentice Feud

“The View” girl is full of herself and reportedly made a couple of enemies and people who do not wish to speak to her ever again after the end of the show. NeNe is not any better than Star… they both need to get off our TV screens and get a reality check!

[image: wenn.com]

“Celebrity Apprentice” Season 4 contestant, Richard Hatch, best known as the first winner of “Survivor”, was ordered to return to the slammer for another nine months. WHY?

2011 Celebrity Apprentice Season 4 Cast (Bios, PHOTOS)

The 49 year-old still owes $2 million to the IRS. After spending three years in jail for tax evasion, Richard was released in 2009 with the condition to file his 2000/2001 tax returns and additional funds. And he didn’t!

Star Jones vs. NeNe Leakes: Celebrity Apprentice Feud

The judge on Richard’s case was not pleased with the Survivor’s behavior, who “made no effort to put any money into the government’s coffers.” Richard will also serve 26 months of supervised release, during which 25% of his earnings go directly to the IRS. OUCH.

Richard will have to surrender to US Marshals on Monday (March 14). The “Celebrity Apprentice” big season finale is still set to air on May 22, 2011, which probably means Richard will get fired sooner rather than later.

[image: NBC]

Ready. Set. Catfight. Two big personalities like “Real Housewives of Atlanta” star, NeNe Leakes, and former “The View” co-host, Star Jones, were bound to become best enemies in Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice (Season 4).

2011 Celebrity Apprentice Season 4 Cast (Bios, PHOTOS)

The tension between Star and NeNe will bring a whole lot of drama to the fourth season of the show. Well, Star is apparently not an extremely likable person because most of the time she has her head up her… you know!

“Star Jones has got it in for me,” NeNe said. “But it’s all good. I’m okay with it. There are a lot of people who don’t like Star, so I won’t be the only one.”

“She is very different. She’s a piece of work,” NeNe says of Jones. “Anyone who sits around all day and says all her friends are doctors and lawyers and A-list celebrities – cut the BS, I don’t have time for it.”

Star allegedly thinks she is so much better than anyone else and she didn’t make many friends. Meat Loaf is on NeNe’s sides when it comes to Star. He said, “I don’t think Star will be any of my friends either.”

Of course, Star defends herself, saying she never participated in the show for her charity and not as a publicity stunt. Here’s what Star had to say about her feud with NeNe:

“I did Celebrity Apprentice to raise money and awareness for the American Heart Association, which has been instrumental in my life, not to see it reduced to a cliché where black women attack one another for publicity’s sake,” Jones says. “I haven’t made any comments in hopes that she would remember that we all participated in this show for charity and not as a vehicle to promote ourselves and such hatred. I was clearly wrong and I decided to finally respond.”

YEAH. Right. Did Star really need to go to Celebrity Apprentice to help the American Heart Association? NO. Just do whatever you have to do without a camera following your every move.

[images: NBC]

Sixteen celebrities will go face to face and fight for their charities of choice on the brand new season of Celebrity Apprentice (season 4) with Donald Trump, which premieres on NBC at 9/8c on Sunday (March 6). Check the contestants’ bio videos and supported charities below.

The Celebrity Apprentice Season 4 cast: David Cassidy, Dionne Warwick, Richard Hatch, NeNe Leakes, Marlee Matlin, José Canseco, La Toya Jackson, Gary Bursey, Hope Dworaczyk, Lisa Rinna, Niki Taylor, Meat Loaf, Star Jones, Lil John, Jonh Rich and Mark McGrath.

This is most probably the biggest season of Celebrity Apprentice. There’s an apprentice for everybody – from musicians and actors to reality stars and a smart model. Mr. Trump confessed they had to reject almost 40 applications this year.

The previous winners of Celebrity Apprentice are: Piers Morgan, Joan Rivers and Bret Michaels.

2011 Celebrity Apprentice Season 4 Cast Bio Videos + Charities Below go on reading »

Donald Trump is putting together another interesting group of celebrities for the fourth season of “The Celebrity Apprentice”, which will start shooting next week in New York to air in the first quarter of 2011 on NBC.

Former MLB star Jose Canseco, original “Survivor” winner Richard Hatch, and supermodel Niki Taylor will reportedly be part of the cast, which also counts with big names like rapper Lil John, “The View” Star Jones, Sugar Ray frontman Mark McGrath and Michael Jackson’s sister LaToya Jackson.

[images: wenn.com]

Mr. Donald Trump reportedly personally contacted Tiger Woods’ mistress #1, Rachel Uchitel, to invite her to be a part of the next season of “The Celebrity Apprentice”.

The Tiger Woods Saga: Family, Mistresses & More

Trump, who is a longtime friend of Tiger’s, only has one thing in mind: good ratings! We can only hope he is not going to lose a friend… or maybe it was Tiger’s idea: keep the mistress happy for future reference! Who knows!?!

The truth is Rachel really needs a good job, the type of job she doesn’t have to work much, because she reportedly already has a big amount (hush money!) cash in the bank. When asked if she would accept Trump’s offer, Rachel said, “Absolutely.”

Who Won Celebrity Apprentice 2010? The Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 winner will be crowned on the live finale of the show at 9/8c on NBC on Sunday (May 23). Holly Robinson Peet and Bret Michaels are the final two contestants in the competition and they had to sell tea for the final challenge.

2010 Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 Official Cast (Bios, PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Holly’s Compassionberry Tea vs. Bret’s Trop-A-Rocka Blend. Does it really matter who won the challenge? After everything that Bret went through (appendectomy, brain hemorrhage and “warning stroke”), he will easily get the sympathy vote because he is a cool and likeable guy, while Holly’s aggressive attitude did not really earn her any fans.

Bret is already in New York and he will appear on Celebrity Apprentice’s live finale. There will be a medical staff ready due to the rocker’s health condition. Bret would be a fair winner because he might not have been the best contestant on the show, but he had people skills. Bret is a fighter and he can be a cool leader.

Donald Trump will reveal the winner when he says the final “You’re fired!”

UPDATE: “You’re Hired!” Bret Michaels won Celebrity Apprentice. The $250,000 prize will be donated to the American Diabetes Association. Congrats! Bret deserved it!

Who Is The Winner Of Celebrity Apprentice 2010? The question will be answered next week! In last night’s episode of Celebrity Apprentice (May 16), Donald Trump started the show calling the five remaining celebrities to the boardroom to ask them why they deserve to win and who would they fire.

The contestants agreed that the WWE Diva, Maria Kanellis, was the weakest link and Donald promptly fired her. Donald called previous winners, Bill Rancic (The Apprentice Season 1) and Joan Rivers (The Celebrity Apprentice Season 2) to interview the four remaining contestants.

2010 Celebrity Apprentice Season 3 Official Cast (Bios, PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Curtis Stone was fired because he was told he lacked passion for the cause when he admitted that he was on the show to boost his reputation. At least, Curtis was sincere enough to admit what others don’t. Then, the judges had to choose the final two out of three contestants: Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne and Bret Michaels.

The judge’s decision was based on the fact the final contestants had to be up for any challenge both physically and emotionally. Sharon Osbourne was the third contestant to be eliminated because the judges worried she was too tired to continue competing.

The final two are Holly Robinson Peete, a controversial contestant who was not afraid to get into confrontations with other contestants, specifically with Cyndi Lauper, and Bret Michaels, who acted more like a peacemaker, did his job and showed incredible resilience.

Holly and Bret will have to fight for the title of Celebrity Apprentice in the big finale. They will be given the task to sell their product, which is tea… how funny will it be to see rocker Bret trying to sell tea!?! Bret for the win!

Poison’s frontman, who was recently hospitalized for an emergency appendectomy followed by a brain hemorrhage, is rumored to be making his big comeback on the live finale of Celebrity Apprentice on May 23. Bret is also set to appear on Oprah on Wednesday (May 19). There’s no doubt Bret is a fighter!

Last Week: 2010 Celebrity Apprentice Recap (May 9): Bret Michaels Peacemaker, Cyndi Lauper Fired!