By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Dec. 31, 2014
If you're a fan of both "Dancing With the Stars" and "Celebrity Apprentice," you will see some familiar faces when the latter show returns Sunday, Donald Trump and all.
Five of the 16 contestants on this season's "Celebrity Apprentice" have also competed on "Dancing With the Stars":
TV host Leeza Gibbons, ninth place, season four
Reality star Kate Gosselin, eighth place, season 10
Olympian Shawn Johnson, winner, season eight and runner-up all stars, season 15
Actor Ian Ziering, fourth place, season four
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Fox, Gibbons and Ziering did a phone media press conference earlier in the fall about the show. They said "Celebrity Apprentice," which was taped in the spring in New York City, is fundamentally different than "Dancing" in terms of preparation and work.
"This was definitely harder than 'Dancing With the Stars' for me," Fox said. "On 'Dancing With the Stars,' you rehearse six hours a day, then walk away for a time. Here, we worked 12 hours a day, six days a week. Some nights, I could barely go to sleep. My brain wouldn't shut off. We were turning tasks around so fast."
Gibbons felt more comfortable in the Trump world than the dancing world, where she didn't last very long. "I know the language of business," she said. "But I under-estimated how exhausting it would be. This was all about mental stamina. 'Dancing With the Stars' was more physical stamina."
Ziering said he was extremely focused on 'Dancing With the Stars" in terms of rehearsal and repetition. "I had foot surgery," he said. "I wore my foot out." He got far in the show not only because of his dancing skills but his ability to act and emote on stage. On "Celebrity Apprentice," he said, "you just can't act. You have to deliver. You need real-world experience. It was much more mentally taxing doing 'Celebrity Apprentice' than doing 'Dancing With the Stars.' In either case, I always set my eye on the prize. That's my goal. I work out a plan."
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
I also asked them in general about the two Atlantans on the cast, "Real Housewives of Atlanta' cast mate Kenya Moore and actress Keshia Knight Pulliam.
Naturally, nobody was going to say anything specifically negative - yet. But you can read between the lines by the adjectives they use and they all merged descriptives for both. (I asked the question broadly because it was a press conference and I didn't have the freedom to ask about Kenya and Keshia individually.)
Fox said they were both "very intelligent, very outgoing and very driven. They make the show every interesting this year."
"Amen to that," Gibbons added. "The women are tough. They're competitive." She recalls hosting pageants when Moore was competing and recalls her being much more vulnerable back in the day. Nowadays? Not so much."Not a lot of vulnerability but a lot of strength," she said. "Both are fierce competitors."
"They both came to the table hunting for bears," Ziering said. "They both came in trying to raise money for their charities. It was a no-holds-barred approach."
I have already seen much of the first episode NBC sent TV writers in advance, though it did not include any of the boardroom portion. Moore certainly will bring the drama like she does on "Real Housewives." Knight Pulliam is more of a wild card because we have never seen her in a setting like this before. (She was on ABC's diving competition "Splash" last year ever so briefly.) If anything, she seems awfully nice in episode one during the first task in which the two teams sold pies.
Atlanta's NeNe Leakes has competed on both shows as well, quitting "Celebrity Apprentice" back in 2011 and finishing seventh on "Dancing With the Stars" season 19 that aired in the spring of 2014. Others who have done both shows in the past: Marlee Matlin, Penn Jilllette, Lisa Rinna and Adam Carolla.
Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
TV preview
"Celebrity Apprentice," 9 p.m. Sunday, NBC
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