Combative stars set off fireworks in ‘Celebrity Apprentice’

DONALD Trump, big boss of “Celebrity Apprentice”

Donald Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice” has become even more popular by way of its “stellar” edition, “Celebrity Apprentice,” which pits volatile and incandescent luminaries against each other, with the ultimate winner getting a lot of money for his or her favorite charity.

Last July 7, we caught two of Season 12’s telecasts, back-to-back, and we got more than our usual monthly fix of “star wars,” as the twin bill zapped us with scene after scene of in-your-face celebrities doing their best to outsmart, outmaneuver and outtalk each other!

The first telecast had the female and male teams competing against one another to come up with a yummy sandwich that would click the most with hungry buyers.

The ladies lost to the gents and their team leader, model Patricia Velasquez, was asked which of her members she felt should be “fired” by Trump from the competition. She wanted Victoria Gotti, daughter of a notorious Mafia boss, kicked out, but Trump instead got rid of the original supermodel, Cheryl Tiegs, who threw a fit because she definitely didn’t agree with the decision.

More acerbic

The second telecast was even more acerbic and competitive, because the many entertainers in the tilt were on home turf, since the challenge required each team to put on a 15-minute show at the famous “period genre” restaurant and performance venue, Medieval Times.

The female team’s leader of the week, comic Lisa Lampanelli, thought up a really funny and topical spoof on the “Real Housewives” and “Jersey Shore” hit TV reality shows, transplanted to a medieval jousting setting, and everyone except Gotti worked really hard to make sure that it clicked with the venue’s patrons.

For their part, the male celebrities, led by star magician Penn Jillette, came up with a format that emphasized the different stellar personas of the male team’s members, like Clay Aiken singing; Lou Ferrigno, the Incredible Hulk, battling daredevil motorcycle star Paul Teutul Sr., etc.

After the smoke had cleared, it turned out that the men had won again, getting many more votes from the audience than their female counterparts, so the ladies had to face the music for a second time!

This time around, Gotti didn’t escape the chopping block— but not after she and Lampanelli had an all-out, shrilly emotional fight to the finish, which sometimes turned really ugly.

The vituperative exchange shocked some of the other female contestants, who were distraught to see how low, mean and “dirty” the competition could get.

Hey, they wailed, women are supposed to be united and working toward the same objective—so, why are we behaving even worse than the men in this show?!

Why, indeed?

With the alienating Gotti now out of the way, the ladies can perhaps work together more productively and reasonably, so they’ll be able to finally beat the guys—without going down to their “bull-doggedly” pugnacious level.

The other celebrities who fought for the title of “Celebrity Apprentice” during season 12 included Arsenio Hall, who ended up winning the coveted title, Fil-Am actress Tia Carrere, Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza, character actor George Takei, pop icon Debbie Gibson and Indy car team owner Michael Andretti. Put all of these spirited, idiosyncratic stars together in a room and what do you get? Fireworks!