by Troy Rogers
Ahead
of the Celebrity Apprentice finale, we spent a few minutes with Maria
Kanellis to find out how she felt about having celebrity youth on her side,
what she liked about being a Celebrity Apprentice, her thoughts on Bret
Michaels, and what surprised Maria the most after being in The Celebrity
Apprentice boardroom.
THE DEADBOLT: How did you feel about all of the comments that you were too young to know certain things?
MARIA KANELLIS: Yeah, there was a bunch of them, and there was more when I watched it back of course. I'm not in the interviews to see exactly what they're saying. I've never been one to have hurt feelings when anybody says anything. But at the same time, the youths come in with fresh ideas and there are older ones that have a few more years on Earth. They bring experience.
I haven't had as much of experience on this planet as others had on the team, but that doesn't mean I can't bring great fresh ideas. So it frustrated me in a lot of ways. A lot of young people have actually came up to me and said that as well, that it frustrated them, because we're just beginning. We're just starting our adventure and sure we're going to mess up a million times. But at the same time, there's something to say about being enthusiastic.
THE DEADBOLT: What was the biggest surprise for you on the show? What did you go in expecting and what kind of threw you for a loop?
KANELLIS: I really thought that it was going to be like 9:00am until 5:00 at night, a normal work day. But it was like from 4:00 in the morning getting hair and makeup done to working until midnight. I have never been so tired in my entire life. We worked six days a week from 4:00 in the morning until midnight every day and it was exhausting.
Other Conference Call Highlights
Now, are you and Curtis best friends?
MARIA
KANELLIS: Not best friends, but we're working our differences out.
What can you tell us about what we're going to see on Sunday? What sort of hints can you tell us about how things came together for your team?
KANELLIS: Oh, gosh. It's like ripping your hair out because there's so much to do, so you're going to see that frustration.
I wanted to talk a little bit about Bret. What are some qualities that you discovered about him and why is he in the final two?
KANELLIS: with Bret I came in thinking, coming off of Rock of Love and all that kind of stuff, I had a completely different opinion of him. But when I actually got to work with him and be around him, he's a really nice guy. He's a great guy with tremendous ideas and I was thoroughly impressed by him the entire show.
Who do you think will win?
KANELLIS: I'm torn right now, you know? I'm very torn, because I think Bret's a great guy and I understand his charity and I think it's a great thing that he's doing. Plus, he's got such an inspirational story being in a rock band and being a rocker and also having diabetes; that just doesn't compute. But also, with Holly I'm on her team, and then I'm' also - you know, I've got a cousin with autism, so I can see her trials. So, I'm torn. I - and I can't say. I have no idea.
Do you think that Bret's condition will play into whether or not he wins or loses?
KANELLIS: No. I think Trump - I mean, it's unfortunate, you know, what happened with him and, you know, we're so happy that he's getting better. But at the same time, Trump is pretty much a guy that, you know, he sees what's in a task and that's it. He doesn't see celebrity or he doesn't see, you know, "Oh, well that's a - that's this or that." He sees what you do on task and how much of a hard worker you are, and what great ideas you have. That's going to be the only thing Trump looks at.
You obviously worked really hard the whole time on Celebrity Apprentice and everything, were you upset at all at the way you were fired? Was it kind of a letdown because it just seemed so abrupt?
KANELLIS:
It was. It was big time a letdown. I - you know, people make comments
all the time in the board room, that it - don't belong in a work environment
or - you know, but we just like to have fun in there, because that's not
our full-time job. We're there. We're working for charity, but it's not
our full-time job. So, some of the comments I've heard in the past in
the boardroom had been 100 times worse than what I said. And so, I was
a bit surprised. It was supposed to be a joke, but it didn't turn out
that way. People have different senses of humor. And so, I was very upset.
I was crying. I was just - I was mad, you know a whole slew of emotions.
Do you think that you ruined, Curtis' studly image with the ladies?
KANELLIS: Well, Curtis ruined his studly image for me anyways, because he's - I can't stand a hot man that's arrogant, you know? I just - I can't. He does great things for people and we've actually made from then, but I think it's just his Australian accent sometimes that I'm like, "Where are you going?" It's like it's pompous and arrogant, you know?
Well, moving on to your elimination then, I mean do you feel like some of the other people started to throw you under the bus, and then when that whole comment thing, Trump just decided, "Well, these people are already saying they want her out, might as well just fire her."
KANELLIS: Yeah, I do think that. I mean - and I think I was an easy target because you can easily say, "Oh, well she's younger than everybody so she doesn't have as much experience." That's an easy way out, you know? It's like if you got to throw someone out, you throw out whoever's the easiest, because people can identify with that. But in all honestly, I don't think I was the weakest player at all. I worked hard. I had great ideas. I do have a lot of experience. I have what, like almost 12 years experience between modeling and entertainment. So it's like, I do have a few years of experience. Not as many as others, but it's not like I'm coming in like fresh off the boat or something, you know? I have done it for a while now, so I was an easy target, you know?
Was there any advice that Trump gave you that you're planning on keeping with you?
KANELLIS:
Oh, constantly. You know, all the time. He always was saying, you know,
how much of a hard worker he is and that's why he expects so much from
his employees. And I learned that when I worked with (unintelligible)
too. You have to be a very hard worker, as leader in order get your employees
or the people that are underneath you to listen, and to actually work
just as hard for you. And so, I'll keep that with that me.
Who do you plan on keeping in touch with from the show?
KANELLIS: I've kept in touch with Holly and I end up doing so much stuff with Curtis and every time I was like, "Oh, I want to punch him." But, I end up doing a lot of work with Curtis, and I'm sure I'll keep in touch with him. Bret, we're kind of - we text here and there, but of course I haven't really talked to him that much in the last couple months. But I'm sure, you know, it's going to be one of those - and I text him and there and just kind of keep in touch. Sharon actually, got - like she must have pocket-dialed me one day and I said, "What the heck." It was the funniest thing. It was like 4 o'clock in the morning and I'm getting a call from Sharon Osbourne. I'm like how weird is my life? But it was a total pocket-dial.
