The Celebrity Apprentice 3 (also known as The Apprentice 9) is the ninth installment of the reality game show The Celebrity Apprentice. On April 29, 2009, NBC officially announced the renewal of The Celebrity Apprentice for spring 2010. The show premiered on Sunday, March 14, 2010. The two-hour season finale was on Sunday, May 23, 2010, 9–11 p.m., ET/PT and the winner was Poison lead singer and Rock of Love star Bret Michaels. Michaels also returned for All-Star Celebrity Apprentice. Michaels was the only person from this season to return. Michaels was also the only previous winner to return and was fired first, coming in 14th.
Contents
Candidates
The candidates for this season, as officially announced.
Weekly results
1 No one was fired during this episode because both teams raised a lot of money.
The contestant was on the losing team.
The contestant won the competition and was named the Celebrity Apprentice.
The contestant won as project manager on his/her team.
The contestant lost as project manager on his/her team.
The contestant was on the losing team and brought to the final boardroom.
The contestant was fired.
The contestant lost as project manager and was fired.
The contestant was absent during the project due to a previous engagement.
The contestant quit the show.
Episodes
Episode 1: True Colors
Task 1
Airdate: March 14, 2010
Actual date: October 2009
Task scope: The teams had to run a New York diner called Burger Heaven. They'll be making their own menus. The team with the most money wins.
Tenacity project manager: Cyndi Lauper
Rocksolid project manager: Bret Michaels
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Rocksolid
Reasons for win: Although they didn't get $10,000 from Joan Rivers, they earned a total profit of $57,905. Bret Michaels had Curtis Stone create a range of expensive truffle-based dishes to ensure that even the members of the general public would be giving large donations, and Curtis and Bill Goldberg made a very efficient kitchen team, despite Rod Blagojevich being a very slow server.
Losing team: Tenacity
Reasons for loss: Even though Selita Ebanks's cooking was well-received and they got $10,000 from Joan Rivers, they only earned $39,559 overall. Ivanka said that Tenacity's price points were too low from tracking customers on the streets, and that the team was disorganized and failed to ensure that their big donors were served over the general public.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom – Cyndi said that no member of the team had performed exceptionally well or poorly, which Ivanka concurred with. Based on the feedback from the other women and the amount of money raised, Trump ultimately narrowed it down to Carol Leifer and Selita Ebanks; while he initially appeared inclined to fire Selita, who brought in no donors whatsoever, Ivanka pointed out that without her cooking skills the women would never have gotten the money from Joan Rivers, and would have taken an even heavier beating. This saved Selita and led to Carol being fired.
Episode 2: Smooth In, Smooth Out
Task 2
Airdate: March 21, 2010
Task scope: Run a Kodak Storefront
Task sponsor: Kodak
Tenacity project manager: Maria Kanellis
Rocksolid project manager: Sinbad
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Winning team: Tenacity
Reasons for win: They seemed to promote the product more than the men which is what the Kodak presidents were looking for despite four power outages that threatened them during the walkthrough
Losing team: Rocksolid
Reasons for loss: While the men were praised for using their celebrity power (such as Darryl posing in a New York Mets jersey), with certain people the men fell short on getting the product out to the customers and also lost because of a card that had a website to find the pictures that were taken at the store: the website was nowhere to be found on the card, according to 2 secret shoppers that shopped at the men's storefront
Sent to boardroom: Sinbad, Bret Michaels, Rod Blagojevich
Fired: Sinbad – for not leading well as the team leader and for not being able to manage Bret, who disappeared for the first part of the task. Sinbad was criticized for the website card as well and also was fired for bringing Rod Blagojevich in when he was not responsible for the loss.
Kodak Moment – America's Choice: Rod Mistaken For Donny Osmond
Kodak Moment – Trump's Choice: Rod Mistaken For Donny Osmond
Episode 3: Yellow Blur
Airdate: March 28, 2010
Task scope: The teams were asked to create an advertorial for Norton 360 + Lifelock.
Task sponsor: Norton 360 and LifeLock
Tenacity project manager: Summer Sanders
Rocksolid project manager: Michael Johnson
Judges: Donald Trump; Donald Trump Jr.; Gavin Maloof
Winning team: Tenacity
Reasons for win: Although they floundered the team's presentation, the women had a better use of graphics and a more attention-grabbing, emotional connectivity in their ad content.
Losing team: Rocksolid
Reasons for loss: Despite having a good presentation, the men's advertorial was too verbose to be effective. Trump also felt that using Curtis Stone as the front-man for their campaign was a strange decision, and that Bill Goldberg's wrestling background would have made him a better fit.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom – when Trump asked the men who should be fired they were divided between Michael Johnson, who they felt was the most directly at fault for the loss, and Rod Blagojevich, who they felt was the team's weakest member overall. However, the discussion was rendered irrelevant when Darryl Strawberry suddenly announced that he didn't really want to continue on the show, and was willing to be fired.
Fired: Darryl Strawberry – He functionally quit by asking to be fired, adding that he felt unable to keep up with the pace of the competition. Trump strongly hinted that Michael Johnson would have been fired had it not been for Darryl asking to leave.
Kodak Moment – America's Choice: Rod's Computer Incompetence
Episode 4: Focus on that Image
Airdate: April 4, 2010
Task scope: To create a 3D experience for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Task sponsor: Universal Studios Florida
Tenacity project manager: Selita Ebanks
Rocksolid project manager: Rod Blagojevich
Judges: Donald Trump; George H. Ross; Erin Burnett
Winning team: Tenacity
Reasons for win: The team was more focused on the theme park image, and the children who went to both experiences unanimously preferred Tenacity's experience. Credit was given in particular to Cyndi Lauper, for her enthusiastic performance in their presentation.
Losing team: Rocksolid
Reasons for loss: Although they also focused on the demographic of the overall theme park of the new attraction and brand messaging, there were some inconsistencies in the display, which made overly heavy use of smoke-effects and confused much of the Harry Potter terminology (such as mispronouncing the castle as "Hogwards" instead of Hogwarts and using the term "classes" instead of houses). The executives and children also felt that Bill Goldberg had been extremely unconvincing in his two roles in the presentation.
Sent to boardroom: Rod Blagojevich, Curtis Stone, Michael Johnson
Trump Thoughts: Trump was baffled by Rod Blagojevich's boardroom choices, noting that there were valid reasons to bring back both Bret Michaels (for making the creative decisions the executives didn't like and later admitting he should be brought back over Curtis and Michael) and Bill Goldberg (who did poorly in the presentation) rather than Curtis or Michael, who weren't to blame for the loss. Rod tried to defend his choice by pointing out that Bret and Bill had worked the hardest on the task, and while Trump considered this loyalty commendable, it left him with no option but to fire Rod.
Episode 5: He Shoots, He Scores
Airdate: April 11, 2010
Task scope: The teams are asked to develop a 10-second and 30-second commercial for Right Guard. Each team will have an ex-NBA star.
Results: Rocksolid selects Clyde Drexler and Tenacity selects Scottie Pippen.
Task sponsor: Right Guard
Tenacity project manager: Holly Robinson Peete
Rocksolid project manager: Curtis Stone
Judges: Donald Trump; George H. Ross; Ivanka Trump
Winning team: Rocksolid
Reasons for win: Trump & The Right Guard Executives said that their 10-second commercial was perfect, and the 30 second commercial was funny.
Losing team: Tenacity
Reasons for loss: Although they had the best 30 second commercial, especially the jingle which was perfect for Cyndi's voice, the commercial's focus didn't target the right demographic. Ivanka pointed out they didn't produce the two required separate ads.
Quit: Michael Johnson – he had unknown issues of which to take care. He did not disclose the issues, but admitted he hated to quit.
Initial boardroom: During the task, Holly went to the edit room that she heard something wrong in the audio. It played five times and she said, "What is that?". Holly brought up a point that Maria did not hear it. Then in the boardroom, Holly does not think that Maria is a loyal team player; which Ivanka brought that statement up.
Sent to boardroom: Holly Robinson Peete, Maria Kanellis, Selita Ebanks
Episode 6: Beauty and Brains
Airdate: April 18, 2010
Task scope: To make over an aspiring country musician.
Results: Tenacity selected Emily West and Rocksolid selected Luke Bryan.
Tenacity project manager: Cyndi Lauper
Rocksolid project manager: Bill Goldberg
Judges: Donald Trump; Trace Adkins; Donald Trump Jr.
Dramatic Tension: The men struggled to get Luke Bryan to accept their ideas for a makeover, as he already had a specific image of himself and was extremely reluctant to alter it in any way. Cyndi Lauper annoyed the other women on her team, particularly Maria Kanellis, by constantly rejecting their ideas and going with her own, with Sharon Osbourne (who returned to the show halfway through the task) being the only other person she listened to. In the boardroom, Maria backed off on her criticisms of Cyndi, who she admitted was an expert in the industry and that she clearly knew what she was doing. Cyndi, on the other hand, furiously attacked Maria, accusing her of being the only person on the team who failed to deliver and saying that Maria should be fired if they lost.
Winning team: Tenacity
Reasons for win: Emily West gave a more inspiring and emotionally moving performance, and gave a far better magazine interview than Luke. The only major flaw noted was that the promotional material produced by the team looked somewhat unprofessional, largely due to Cyndi Lauper's insistence on not airbrushing or otherwise touching up the photographs.
Losing team: Rocksolid
Reasons for loss: Despite having better promotional materials, and a lively concert performance, the industry experts and even Luke Bryan himself unanimously disliked the "tough guy" image the team came up with, and felt that Bill Goldberg and Bret Michaels had simply applied their own personal tastes to Luke. They also felt that Luke came across as rambling, inarticulate and lifeless in an interview given to People Magazine.
Episode 7: Rock n Roll All Night
Airdate: April 25, 2010
Task scope: To create a celebrity workout class for 24 Hour Fitness. The team that raised the most money would win both teams' money.
Task sponsor: 24 Hour Fitness
Corporate reshuffle: With the men having been virtually wiped out by losing four out of the previous five tasks, and also due to Michael Johnson resigning from the show leaving two men left (Curtis and Bret), Trump started to reshuffle the teams by Sharon and Maria moving to Rocksolid & Curtis to Tenacity.
New Rocksolid Team: Bret Michaels, Sharon Osbourne, and Maria Kanellis
New Tenacity Team: Curtis Stone, Holly Robinson Peete, Cyndi Lauper, and Summer Sanders
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Donald Trump Jr.
Tenacity project manager: Holly Robinson Peete
Rocksolid project manager: Sharon Osbourne
Winning team: Tenacity
Reasons for win: The team raised $206,090.
Losing team: Rocksolid
Reasons for loss: Though they won the $24,000 bonus, they only raised $131,803.
Sent to boardroom: No final boardroom
Fired: No one – since everyone did an outstanding job in their fundraising efforts, Trump decided to keep the teams intact for another task.
Episode 8: Rebuilding the Tension
Airdate: May 2, 2010
Task scope: To create three radio commercials for three different areas (plumbing, heating/air-conditioning, and electricity maintenance) of a home repair company named Clockwork Home Services.
Tenacity project manager: Summer Sanders
Rocksolid project manager: Bret Michaels
Dramatic decision: All seven celebrities escaped from the boardroom after the 24 Hour Fitness task. Trump promised one of them will be fired; In fact, he hinted that it might be two people.
Judges: Donald Trump; Ivanka Trump; Eric Trump
Winning team: Rocksolid
Reasons for win: The executives of the company believed that their commercials were superior to Tenacity's in terms of clarity and originality, despite having made reference to a plumber's crack in one of the ads, which the executives found distasteful.
Losing team: Tenacity
Reasons for loss: Despite enjoying Cyndi Lauper's singing, the executives believed the team's commercials were too wordy, and they wanted to hear more of Cyndi's voice.
Sent to boardroom: Cyndi Lauper, Summer Sanders, Curtis Stone. Cyndi was sent out of the boardroom before Trump fired Summer.
Fired: Summer Sanders – for taking responsibility as project manager and for not defending herself.
Kodak Moment – America's Choice: Holly's Surprise Visit
Kodak Moment – Trump's Choice: Holly's Surprise Visit
Episode 9: Apartment Journey
Airdate: May 9, 2010
Corporate reshuffle: At the last boardroom, Curtis made a reason how Maria & Sharon dislike him since they haven't worked together yet, and now they're working together. So Trump moved Bret to Tenacity and Curtis to (his old original team) Rocksolid.
Taskscope: Teams are asked to rebuild and remodel an apartment.
Tenacity project manager: Holly Robinson Peete
Rocksolid project manager: Sharon Osbourne
Judges: Donald Trump; Donald Trump Jr.; Richard LeFrak
Winning team: Rocksolid
Reasons for win: The judges felt "solidly" about their decoration, and also thought that they had managed to make the apartment feel bigger. While they criticized the lack of "wow" factor in the celebrity room, they thought that Rocksolid was far superior.
Losing team: Tenacity
Reasons for loss: Although they loved Cyndi's idea for the celebrity room and liked the pictures Bret took of New York, the team made the apartment look cheaper than Zen, there were a lot of things going on inside the apartment, and frankly the executives really disliked the master bedroom that has the color "seafoam green".
Initial boardroom: Trump is initially critical to Bret because he felt that Bret is not being decisive about firing Holly or Cyndi.
Sent to boardroom: Mr. Trump requested Holly Robinson Peete, Cyndi Lauper, and Bret Michaels to wait in the reception area.
Internal Review turning point: Mr. LeFrak considered firing Bret because he felt that Bret is not giving an answer to eliminate one person and Bret was off to a prior concert engagement, albeit for only one night. Don Jr. noted he would've suggested Holly, until Cyndi told Mr. Trump that it was actually Holly's idea to paint the celebrity room red. Because of this, Don Jr. felt that Cyndi made a huge "tactical mistake."
Episode 10: The Weak Link
Airdate: May 16, 2010
Taskscope: Interviews with Bill Rancic & Joan Rivers
Judges: Donald Trump; Joan Rivers; Bill Rancic
Fired:
Maria Kanellis – for making an uncouth remark about Curtis Stone prior to the interviews. Kanellis explained her reason for calling Curtis arrogant the previous week, saying that it was because he "took a crap" in the Rocksolid bathroom and let the stench waft over the team room. She would almost certainly have been fired at this point anyway since the other candidates near-unanimously deemed her the weakest candidate from the final five, but her insulting remarks ensured her dismissal.
Curtis Stone – for being the weakest out of the four remaining candidates. According to Joan and Bill, Curtis was weaker than the other contestants, with Rancic even calling him "a one-trick pony". Holly, Bret, and Sharon all agreed, although they also complimented him being a gentleman and a fantastic contestant.
Sharon Osbourne – for not having what it took at the time to become the Celebrity Apprentice. Bill thought Sharon was not as strong as Holly or Bret, but Joan disagreed, feeling that Sharon and Holly should advance to finals. In the end, Trump heeded Bill's advice and fired Sharon, as he thought she may not be strong enough to deal with the huge task that was to come. He also had concerns that Sharon was too much in awe of Holly, due to Sharon's lengthy praises of her prior to the interviews and felt that Sharon was effectively acknowledging Holly as being a better candidate.
Kodak Moment – America's Choice: Curtis Manipulates Bret
Kodak Moment – Trump's Choice: Curtis Manipulates Bret
Notes:
In this episode, three people were fired, revealing the final two. After the previous episode's boardroom, Trump summoned the remaining five celebrities, and told them that only four of them would get to take part in the interviews, while the weakest candidate from the final five would be dismissed immediately. Upon questioning, the celebrities (apart from Bret Michaels, whom Trump did not get around to questioning before the firing occurred) all agreed that Holly Robinson Peete was the strongest of the remaining candidates and that Maria Kanellis was the weakest.
Episode 11 (Finale): You're Hired, You're Fired
Task scope: The teams were asked to develop a new flavor from Snapple. Then, the marketing materials they were asked is a 30-second commercial and a brochure.
Bret's Team: Summer Sanders and Darryl Strawberry
Holly's Team: Curtis Stone and Maria Kanellis
Runner Up: Holly Robinson Peete – for having a slightly less effective overall campaign than Bret Michaels
Named the Celebrity Apprentice/Winner: Bret Michaels
Kodak Moment Of The Season – America's Choice: Rod Mistaken For Donny Osmond
Kodak Moment Of The Season – Trump's Choice: Rod Mistaken For Donny Osmond
Notes:
The finale was televised live from New York University.
Cyndi Lauper and Summer Sanders announced the extra money they have made from their respective tasks.
Cyndi performed a live song from her upcoming Memphis Blues album, in which she danced on the Boardroom table.
Donald Trump gave $25,000 to Darryl Strawberry's charity for coming back to the show.
Neither Sharon Osbourne nor Bill Goldberg returned to participate in the finale. Bill Goldberg could not return because his son Gage was sick. Sharon Osbourne could not return because of a "pre-existing charity commitment."
Trivia
On April 18, 2017, Sharon Osbourne revealed on The Talk her dissatisfaction with her participation on the series. She expressed her dislike for the producers demands for drama and the unknown charities she asked her friends to donate to. However, she did note regardless that she had a positive experience with Donald Trump and his wife.