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Celebrity Apprentice Donald Trump and Bret Michaels interview, what to expect from the boardroom

By April MacIntyre Mar 13, 2010, 18:57 GMT

Donald Trump and Melania Trump -she\'s not fired yet © Sylvain Gaboury / PR Photos

Celebrity Apprentice premieres Sunday, March 14 on NBC from 9:00 to 11:00 pm. 

This year's cast includes Darryl Strawberry, Cyndi Lauper, Bret Michaels, Sharon Osbourne, Michael Johnson, Holly Robinson Peete, Bill Goldberg, Carol Leifer, Sinbad, Summer Sanders, Rod Blagojevich, Maria Kanellis, Curtis Stone and Selita Ebanks.

Unlike any other reality TV show, this particular competition hones survival skills in the business world. You will learn things not offered at the Wharton Business school or Harvard.  It reveals that some people are just blessed with innate political savvy, who are enough of a leader to shine without alienating the rest of the workers, or appearing too obsequious to the boss. 

Success in the business world is a study in reading people; this is a skill that can be learned, and Celebrity Apprentice is a bit of a boot camp in the art of bending people to your will.  Dare I say, it is educational at times, especially in this tough economic market where everyone is holding on to their jobs for dear life..

The premiere of The Celebrity Apprentice is tonight, Sunday, March 14th with a two-hour episode starting at 9/8c.

Below the interview with Donald Trump and Bret Michaels is a full video clip teaser to get to know the contestants and their charities with the cast profiles below, including the “Legal, Ethical and Honest” promo, which will show you just how far Rod Blagojevich is willing to go to win.

NBC also has set up live tweeting during the premiere from two of the cast members:  Ivanka Trump (http://twitter.com/IvankaTrump) will be live tweeting during the EST broadcast and Holly Robinson Peete (http://twitter.com/hollyrpeete) will be live tweeting during the PST broadcast on Sunday. This is an awesome way to get some insight into the episode and what goes on behind-the-scenes from the stars themselves!

Monsters and Critics spoke to Donald Trump and Bret Michaels on a conference call about the new season and the lineup of stars.

Tell us a little bit about the selection process.

Donald Trump: After the first success and then the Joan Rivers success of those two shows,  just celebrities want to be on the show. So I would say probably six or seven people per spot we were turning down.

And we wanted some athletes, we wanted some actors, actresses, we have models, we have wrestlers, we have a beautiful wrestler and a big wrestler, Goldberg and Maria - Maria is a beautiful woman who's a wrestler with the WWE and their big star.

It's been a very interesting process. But the hardest thing - because we really have some good people that want to go on very badly and I guess maybe we'll save them for the next show because it looks like that's going to happen.

Bret, what was that experience like for you?

Bret Michaels: Well the boardroom is exactly what I thought it would be like, it's very intense in there. You go in - again and I want to say this, I was very excited first of all to be on the show. And for me having lifelong diabetes it was intense in there. I went in to fight for my charity and very personal for me. And when I went in there it was exactly how I saw the other two seasons, very intense.

How is this season going to be different than past seasons. Are you going to do anything to change it up a bit?

Donald Trump: Well, we've had such a success and frankly when you have a success you don't like to do too many changes. And what we do have is there has been a different tone. Now as you know everything has not been shot so I can't tell you how it ends, I don't know myself how it's going to end and of course we're going to have a two or three hour live finale.

But the cast has been very interesting. They've been very tough, very nasty but there's also a lot of fun and funniness with respect to what happens which I don't think we had in the last one with Joan as an example and with Piers. It was really nasty people really hating each other.

These people hate each other but it's also funny; there's something funny about it that I didn't have in the first two so I think that might be the biggest differentiation in terms of, you know, the three casts.

Can you kind of tell off the bat who is going to do well and who isn't? Do you have any kind of gut feeling when you just first meet these people?

Donald Trump: Well that's always to me the most interesting question because I'd like to think of myself as being okay with people. But so often I'll say this one is going to be a star, let's say Bret, he's going to be a star; he's going to be great. And then he turns out to be a dud. I'm not saying that happened and frankly it didn't happen, okay.

But you never really know, oftentimes you'll see somebody and you'll say 'oh this person's going to do great' especially with the celebrity because you've known these celebrities at least through reading about them for so many years.

And a lot of times you're really disappointed and a lot of times somebody that is not really - that you don't think of so highly turns out to be a star. So it's very, very tough. You don't know what happens and, you know, with pressure and the heat of battle you just don't know what happens.

So I'll have a preconceived notion, yes, always. A lot of times that turns out to be not necessarily correct.

Bret, what was your strategy going into the game assuming you had one?

Bret Michaels: I thought I had a strategy and this was it.  I go back to this being lifelong diabetic I went in there with one intent and that was to win. And when I went in there with that attitude I know one thing that I felt was extremely important for me was to deliver myself to each task.

And what I found is I thought there was going to be some quitters. When I watched the other two seasons I immediately felt that I knew who was going to walk off the show or not last. And most of it turned out to be true, right.

On this one there was no quitters and I think that's what made this coming season the most intense because no one was giving up the battle.

Bill Goldberg, what was he like?

Donald Trump: Well  he's very capable. And he's a very tough guy; he's not easy to get along with that I can tell you.   I don't mean just tough physically he's tough in a lot of other ways.  I have a lot of respect for him but he's a very difficult kind of a guy.

He's a tough cookie but physically and mentally. He's strong, he's very strong.

You don't get intimidated much do you Mr. Trump?

Donald Trump: No I don't.  I understand life and hey we're here for a certain period of time and that's the end. What's to be intimidated about? But Goldberg is certainly a guy that can intimidate people. And I think, Bret, you would agree with that right?

Bret Michaels: I would agree 1000%. And talk about Goldberg, he's menacing to be around first of all. He's an extremely intense guy and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. And he's a fighter, but he also when he goes after something he really goes after it and if you're in his way you get run down.

At the same time I had to put out of my mind that I like him and respect him as a wrestler and enjoy watching him but I'm also going up against him to win and that's what made it intense because he is big and physically,  there's some times I'm going to be straight honest that we loved each other and hated each other and went head to head and I just knew I could outrun him that's what mattered.

I may not beat him in a fight but I knew I could out run him.  But I didn't back down. We both went at it but in the end, you know, the bottom line is we both wanted to win.

Bret , how do you think you stack up to these strong personalities?

Bret Michaels:  I know that they're extremely smart. I know that they're strong physically, mentally so when I go in there that makes me up my game. And I feel the reason I've survived 20 years in the music business is I just don't back down to a challenge and especially when it's that close to my heart.

And knowing that they're smart, knowing that you're up there in front of Mr. Trump, in front of Sharon, in front of Strawberry, in front of Goldberg, all these people it really makes you up your game. And I think that what people forget about all this is when you go in there how intense and hard of work this is.

You go onto a show and if you don't deliver yourself for the real fact that this is a - this is real; you are out there in the streets working hard. I forgot about anything that was going on around me other than delivering to the task. And knowing I'm going up against some smart people it made me even up my game more.

Mr. Trump you're like a prosecuting attorney when you have them in the boardroom.  I thought it was very interesting how you went after Blagojevich when he was hemming and hawing. And I was wondering if you could talk about that and if you kind of meter your approach to different personalities. And since he's a politician you went for it with him?

Donald Trump: Well I could tell you with him it was just the beginning because it's pretty wild what happens. And he's pretty wild. It's going to be very interesting I can tell you. And I think, you know, just like you like the cast has turned out to be amazing.

Yes, I think you deal with different people differently. I deal with Goldberg differently than I deal with the Governor. I deal with... really like Joan Rivers last time I dealt with her much differently than some of the other contestants. Certainly if you look at Dennis Rodman and Joan, you know, you deal with people differently.

And you have to be able to have that ability because frankly you deal with some people in a certain fashion and you have to know how to deal and other people in a totally different fashion.  And I do deal with people differently, yes.

Mr. Michaels, you're incredibly well-spoken, you're very focused, you don't come across as the prototypical rocker. Could talk about your background and just some of the things that have made you who are in your career?

Bret Michaels: Well first of all thank you. And I want to say this, first of all I've got to start by thanking my parents. I grew up in a very blue collar family. We grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

And for me I think what has been my blessing through all this - I went in there knowing first of all when you say prosecuting attorney that will be the understatement of the year because I've got to tell you something I never sweated as much as I do in that boardroom.

So first of all you got to up your game. And when you say that I think what it is for a lot of people - what you see with me is exactly what you get. And I think a lot of times people try to overly act out the rockstar thing or try to be what they think people want them to be.

I think what makes a real rockstar, what makes a real original person, is being exactly who and what you are and not trying to act out any other persona.

Donald Trump: And I can just add that,  I won't say if Bret lasts, how long he lasts or anything else but he was also very different than I thought. He's a tough, tough cookie. And I was a little surprised by it. He was really strong and very, very smart. With all that he may have been fired very early on because a lot of smart strong people make mistakes. And when you make mistakes you get fired. But he turned out to be very good, excellent.

What does it feel like for you the first time you say, "You're fired?"

Donald Trump: Well it is a little hiatus because when we started off it became so successful that NBC decided to do three in one season including the Martha Stewart fiasco which turned out to be a fiasco unfortunately. But it did very well even after all of that it continued to do well and then we did the celebrity version.

I just have a great kick out of it, I get a great kick. I really like it a lot. They want to renew it for another two or three seasons. And, we're thinking about that. But it's been just for me it's been a lot of fun. And having a little bit of a break between shows like American Idol where it goes on once a year, you know, there's something very nice about it.

Could you talk a little bit about Blagojevich and why you chose him and how he's doing so far?

Donald Trump: Well I'll tell you, as I said about Bret, Bret really was very much different than I envisioned him; I didn't envision him bad or good, I didn't know what to expect. But I could tell you he turned out to be a very tough competitor. And Blagojevich likewise and Bret can maybe speak a little bit about this because he probably got to know him as well or more than me because, you know, they virtually lived together .

But it took a lot of courage under the pressure that he's under for him to even do the show. I've known people over the years where they've had problems like he's got and they go into a corner and they shoot themselves or they go into a corner and they just hide.

Here's a guy doing a major, major television show for two hours primetime and even the government,  the government wasn't thrilled with that whole thing. And he really displayed great courage in doing the show and as far as a player is concerned highly competitive, worked very hard, I mean, you wouldn't know this guy was a governor or an ex-governor.

And he really worked very hard.  I think he does a very good job. I won't say how long he lasts or if he lasts but he did a very good job. What do you think Bret?

Bret Michaels: In the short amount of time that I was around Rod,  in my time spent with him I will say this he was fantastic for me, I mean, we started talking, both of our parents coming from, again blue collar background. I found him extremely nice. I thought he was down to Earth. And every time we had to do something together he was focused.

When we got thrown something in the very beginning - he was focused and he's great at delegating stuff.   That is his expertise. I think he embraced stuff. And he was not scared to get his hands dirty which is for me again what you assume a politician to be like he dug right in and got into it.  I thought he was great honestly.

Donald Trump: The amazing thing is this is going on pretty much at the same time as his trial. So...I mean, it's a very interesting situation I'll tell you. And so many of the questions in all fairness to all of the other contestants who are in many ways,  and some really bigger names, so many of the questions really evolve around the Governor and, what was he like and everything else; people are very interested.

And the fact that his trial is going to be going on almost at the same time it's very interesting and very compelling to watch.

Mr. Trump even after all these years do you ever feel bad about firing someone or just part of the job?

Donald Trump: Sometimes somebody, not everybody, do I like.   Just sometimes I don't like people. And,  it doesn't bother me. The hard ones are when you really like somebody, really respect somebody and they make a mistake.

Like as an example Scott Hamilton.  How can you not like Scott Hamilton from the last season? And I had to let Scott go. And I'm a great fan of Scott, he won Olympic gold medals, he's a great champion and everything else. And he understood he made a mistake on the show and I really had no choice. And I felt very badly about that because I considered him to be just a great person and I still do.

But I have to do what's right. And there are many other examples, you know, I fire people that win gold medals, great champions, everything else, and, you know, it's not - it's not easy. People say oh well it comes easy for me, it doesn't. And it's never fun. It's all to easier though when I don't like somebody or when they're really, really bad then it becomes much easier.

Bret Michaels: The truth of the matter is when you go in there - when I went in here and started to know who was going to be on the show and you know you're going to go in there and face Sharon Osbourne and Darryl Strawberry and you're going to go in there with people that are athletes and other musicians and people that are strong business-minded successful people you really know that you've got to up your game.

I think for me probably the most fascinating person - it starts going in with Mr. Trump. I mean, you're going up against one of these people, a person, who is extremely a rockstar in his own right. And at the same time you're going in there knowing it's going to be intense in the boardroom. You know that he takes no crap. And you don't want to slip up.

And so going in there knowing how extremely intelligent he is, marketing, all that stuff I knew I had to have my game - my A game on right. And then second of all I would say on the cast I think the one I feared the most was going to be Sharon Osbourne.

Donald Trump: I could add and I think more so than any other season is that - and the question was asked before about do you have any preconceived notions which is a great question and always an interesting one for me.

But I think more than any other show I would say that some of the people that I thought were really tough killers weren't and some of the people that I thought were not that tough turned out to be. And I think more than any other show that's the case.

I think you'll see that because some of the people you think are these absolute rocks in terms of strength are not so strong and some of the ones that you think maybe weren't as good or wouldn't be as good are really tough, tough people and tough competitors.

I think more so than any of the other shows that I've done that's the case here, does that make sense and Bret maybe you can comment on that but I can tell you - and I can't mention names but a few of the people that I thought were just these brutal killers turned out not to be.

Bret Michaels: I will agree with you beyond 1000%. And what it was when I went in there I went into - knowing that - to never underestimate your opponent. I think that's my one blessing. But some of the people I thought were going to be completely strong personalities and killers turned out, again, not to be and then some of the ones - fortunately for me I never underestimated anybody because sometimes it's the sleeper that's the one that gets you, you know what I mean?

I'm telling you everybody on this cast - I said it before and I'll say it again - every single person that joined nobody was a quitter, I mean, everyone came out firing and all of us extremely strong-minded and bullheaded on the way we wanted to accomplish it.

If you think about what happens it's not the task that kills you it's that there's all these people battling with their own thought of how you're going to get there and then the project manager has to figure it out because you've got two zillion opinions and it could be death by committee if you procrastinate.

I think that's what was a killer for some of these people, they just procrastinated and they got killed. They took too many decisions and finally as project manager you've got to jump up and say no, I'm done, this is what we're doing and some of them just didn't have the cajones to do it.

Mr. Trump, what you think NBC has to do to kind of get back in the ratings game?

Donald Trump: Well Jeff Gaspin, I know him, and as you know he's new to the role. And I think he's going to do a spectacular job at NBC. And, I mean, they need more shows like the Apprentice, not necessarily from a reality standpoint but they need shows that hit - that capture the imagination.

And,  frankly certain shows that are on should be changed because, you know, I don’t know they get some pretty good reviews but they don't get people watching ultimately the people watching is going to be very important. And it's nice to get both. We've sort of had both and we've had the Emmy nominations, we've had a lot of good accolades passed our way and that's always nice. But ultimately you have to have people watch. I think that NBC is going to really do well. I mean, I understand their current leadership, I know their leadership and I think they're winners so I think they'll turn it around.

Is Sharon the front runner you think going into this season?

Donald Trump: Well she's very smart, she's very strong, very strong-minded and willed. You see what she did with Ozzy because Ozzy is a great talent in terms of music but I guarantee he wouldn’t have been where he is today without Sharon and he understands that better than anybody. So she's obviously a great character on the show.

You know, beyond that I can't talk too much because I can't tell you how she does obviously. But she has been a great character on the show there's no question about it.

Bret, what is the future of your other show, Rock of Love? Do you want to keep doing that? Is that something that interests you?

Bret Michaels: Yes, I'll tell you it's funny you would ask that because I had an absolute great time doing Rock of Love.  And I'll say this though I was really excited about being on Celebrity Apprentice. There's also another side and I think that the reason so many people tune into this show is really simple, it feels like every person if you're on this show you feel like you're in it, you're living it, you've got a chance to look at these tasks and do them.

And when I watched the other two seasons of Celebrity Apprentice for me those seasons I felt like this, you know, I would do this, why did they do that? And I think - and I use it just as a - and I'm saying this just as an outsider watching TV, when you go in there you deliver yourself to it.

I think that with Rock of Love what I, obviouslyI loved doing it, it was the number one show for VH1 three years in a row. So it was a great opportunity for me but it really helped me to forget that there was anything around me, any cameras, anything and I just delivered myself to the project.

Who delivered this sense of fun?

Donald Trump: Well I think Bret is a good example. He was very intense. Also, you know, he was roughed up pretty much by Goldberg and some others but he handled it incredibly well. But there was a lot of funniness. It was rough but it was funny.

Actually somebody from NBC that reviewed a number of the shows said the interesting part about this show is that there's tremendous,  the juices are flowing and everything else but it's really funny. And honestly the other ones were mean, they weren't funny.

This one's mean too, it's got a lot of meanness in it but it's also very funny. So that'll be interesting to see, I mean, frankly the mean always seems to work the best so I'm speaking against myself a little bit because the mean always seems to work the best.

Many times I'll get somebody where there's a bar mitzvah or there's a wedding and - friends of mine or people I know would you do me a favor would you fire us because we're showing it. They never want to be hired they always want to be fired.

And it's almost like the firings that are the meanest, if you look back on the Apprentice those are the ones that everyone likes the best, I mean, the really nasty firings. And you can't do that like,  certain people that I've mentioned previously you can't fire them too rough otherwise you look like an idiot.
But the mean firings are - this show is - it's got a lot of meanness but it's got a lot of funniness to. So it'll be interesting for me to see how that plays.

Bret - what were some of your first jobs were maybe growing up as a teenager?

Bret Michaels: Well the very first things, when you grow up in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania areas we're experiencing right now I was good at shoveling snow and managed to make a little money out of it. and then also cutting lawns and then  I started as a busboy, worked my way up to fry cook and eventually became the assistant to the assistant manager where you could work your way up to be, the actual cook.

And it sounds strange but all of those things that I learned -  I worked at Purina and unloaded bags of dog food and every single job that I took on - I worked as a - my biggest one and the longest one was working as a maintenance man and that's what I did. I went in there and worked maintenance, you got up at 6 o'clock in the morning and you worked from 7 o'clock until 3 o'clock, you know, and that was what you did.

All of those experiences have helped me to take this back because if you think about being a musician when you're in a rock band you're a roadie as much as you're a musician. In other words duct tape is your best friend. And you learn to take those skills and apply to what happened on Celebrity Apprentice.

 I'll tell you what I mean by blue collar.   I will say one thing if I was to say this,  as much as I would like to glamorize rock and roll and all that stuff, I'll be honest with you I'm not scared to get my hands dirty and get in there and work hard.

I think that that is also what helps me when I take on these tasks.

Mr. Trump What are your favorite challenges to kind of watch the celebrities tackle? What are, you know, true tests of character in your opinion?

Donald Trump: Well we do have a lot of different challenges and we have a lot of different sponsors. And then sometimes we go back to the selling of the lemonade just to have it, you know, we turn down a lot of sponsors because actually NBC Mark Burnett and myself, you know, we like the basics so whether it's selling lemonade or doing something else very basic without having to deal with Proctor & Gamble or Kodak, etcetera, sometimes is sort of interesting, expensive for us to do that but that's okay.

So many of the challenges, I mean,it would seem that the rating also find that the favorite part of the show by far is the boardroom. And the boardroom has gotten longer over the years because of that. I mean, the challenges have plenty of time. But the boardroom has gotten, you know, it's been inching up because it just seems that what people like the most about the show is the boardroom.

And so, we're focused on both aspects but we have been trying to lengthen the boardroom. And that's because of viewer requests very strongly.

What do you two have in common?

Donald Trump: I'll tell you a terrible story. Years and years ago my parents had a lot of problems with me because I was rather rebellious like Bret. And they sent me to an institute; I think it was called the Johnson Institute. And it was an aptitude institute to learn what you do the best right? So Bret will be shocked to hear this. I was like seven or eight.

And they gave aptitude tests. And they would do things like play a note on the piano and then five minutes later play five different notes and which note matched up to the first note, things like that okay?

So the thing that my aptitude was the highest at which floored my father, he couldn’t believe it, was music, okay. See that Bret?

Bret Michaels: That's awesome.

Donald Trump: My highest aptitude was music. So I was floored by it but my father was totally floored by it, I'm not sure he was thrilled either if you want to know the truth. So I guess that's something we might have in common.

Because Bret obviously has a great aptitude for music; he's been great at what he does.

Bret Michaels: Thank you very much. And I will say this about Mr. Trump, you know what when you - the one thing as a musician that you get about people is I'd like to think I've got a good sense or sixth sense about people and I will tell this, you know, it is intense when you're around somebody and the things, you know, you don't sit there and go what do we have in common, what I looked at is you go into there and it's an admiration for where he is, where he's gotten to, what he has been through and the amount of success.

I think anyone goes in there and the reason, you also talked about the line you're fired, you're not just getting fired alone in a room, you're walking in there with other celebrities, you're setting across - and I've set there across and heard the words you're fired, right?

When you're hearing this from such a prominent business man,  and know that there is so many eyeballs watching, it that's what makes it intense.

What surprised you about Darryl?

Donald Trump: Well he has been a winner. And what surprised me is how solid he is. I said Darryl, I'm going to ruin your reputation because you - much more solid. You know, look I knew Darryl because I'm a Met fan and I'd watch the Mets and I'd watch him hit a homerun 10 feet off the ground that would go out of the stands, I mean it was amazing, you know, obviously you're a baseball fan or you wouldn't be asking this question right?

And, the power he had and the potential he had. And a lot of it was wasted because some of his things. But he still had a great career. I think he won four World Series for the different teams. And Darryl turned out to be a great guy and a great character and a tough cookie.

I'm not surprised because, anytime you have these world champion athletes they're not there just because of the physical they're also - there's something special. But wouldn't you say that's correct Bret, I mean, you dealt with Darryl very much, he was a teammate of yours.

Bret Michaels: I'll say this about Darryl, I'm a huge baseball fan and I will say this about Darryl, when you meet him - and again knowing this from coming from the rock side of things, sometimes stuff is so overblown. I'm not saying that he didn't party and throw down.

But let me tell you something he was - me and him in the amount of time, again, that I was there, he was very, very collected, calm at times. I can get a little out there, no, I can get very out there. And he would reel it back in. He would keep the team right. And I've got to say something about Darryl, he was - at the end of it I will say this, became one of my very close friends now.

And that's an awesome feeling because I respect him as a player. And at the same time this is what's so strange and awesome about this show all in one, you go in there respecting people and it's the strangest thing knowing in the back of your mind and in the end you're going to be in this arena fighting it out together no matter what.

As much as we all might like each other in the beginning you know that all of these - everyone here wants to win. And that's - you're baiting people in this show and this year is - I'm telling you hands down, forget about the other ones, is the most intense; it runs the gamut of emotions for sure.

Bret, will we see Miley come visit you on the show?

Bret Michaels: Here's the thing,  I can cut right to the chase with Miley, here's the thing, I've known the family forever, I spend a lot of time in Nashville. I write down there and she's one of the few stars that's going to go from - and I'll make this quick - from a pop - young pop superstar who actually has the talent.

I know sometimes she's got to, that's the thing when you're a star like that you've got to take the lumps that come with it and form nerves of steel. But I'm just saying this truthfully the girl can sit down and play the guitar, the piano and sing. She did a harmony on one of my songs that I did, Nothing to Lose. And I think she's going to break through. And I see that realness in her as a musician.

Donald Trump: Well  I don’t know Miley but I think she's really got the it factor so much more so than almost anybody. She is a fantastic - I watched her on one of the talk shows and, I mean, she is like a 30 year old woman. She is a fantastic person and she really does the it factor. So give her my regards, Bret, I think she's terrific.

Mr. Trump, how have you managed to thrive and sustain in this time?

Donald Trump: Right, we've really done well. I was lucky that during this last few years I haven't been crazy. Maybe because of the Apprentice it kept me busy enough that I didn't buy lots of real estate, okay? And we're in a very strong cash position.

And I'm now buying a lot of real estate. I just bought a tremendous project in Washington - in the Washington area on the Potomac River. And it's phenomenal, 850 acres of land that I've been after for years and I got it. And I've done numerous other things over the last, you know, year or so that frankly I haven't been doing it as much.

 I don't know, maybe I can attribute that to the Apprentice. Hey Bret, maybe because I've been busy with you characters you kept me out of trouble because I've been too busy to invest in lots of bad deals. Because anybody that bought a deal but generally speaking anybody that bought two years ago or 2-1/2 years ago is in trouble today. So we've done really well, we're very, very strong.

The company is the strongest it's ever been. And we're in a big acquisition binge. I'll let you know if that works out because,  I'll talk to you in five years about it right? Who knows. But it seems to be the right time to buy.

I think that this a great time to go out and buy real estate, really a good time to go out and buy an apartment, a house, make sure you get financing, probably seller financing or bank financing - when I say bank financing they're not putting up any money but you use the bank that's already got the property because they've already put up the money. So I think it's a great time to go out and make an investment in real estate.

Bret, I wanted to ask you when you found out who the other celebrities on the show were who were you most excited to work with?

Bret Michaels: I'm going to say this honestly I was excited to meet everyone who was going to be on there. And here's what it was as I started to find out who everyone was everybody was so different -  that it was exciting for me. But honestly I was excited to meet Darryl Strawberry, Goldberg.  I'm a guy who loves sports, I love watching the wrestling, I love watching baseball. That was exciting.

And also, you look at Sharon Osbourne, for me I have so much respect. And we've known each other obviously I've been out on the road with Ozzy, I've done stuff and, we've seen each other before but not in this aspect. So those would be - I'd say Darryl and Goldberg...

Donald Trump: And maybe Cyndi Lauper for you because you've always respected what she does.  And she's become so hot now because Cyndi's best friend is Lady Gaga who's the crazy hottest person out there right?  Whose show I saw recently and it was phenomenal. But Lady Gaga loves Cyndi Lauper and she's they're together all the time. And she's a big factor on the show.

Bret Michaels: Yes, Cyndi Lauper is fantastic. And you know what's great about her too, she - Mr. Trump I don't know if you agree with me with this but just being around her in that amount of time I was there I will say this, she's beyond real. Like that's the one thing about her -  I haven't had a chance to say this about Apprentice, it is one of these shows where they - I tell you this there is no scripting, it is real.

You're either there or you're not there, you're either into it or you're not into it. There's no pampering. And I've been my own boss for better or for worse since I've been 18 years old. And I will say this, there is no pampering going on. You either put yourself into it or you don't and every single star or celebrity on this show delivered it. And Cyndi was amazing and she's out there yet she's so honest with her answers it's almost painful sometimes.

Donald Trump: And she is very tough also, I mean, I'm not revealing anything.
I would have never thought of Cyndi as being like that tough. She is tough as you'll ever find. And you know the accent is very deceiving. She is so tough that it's really almost unbelievable at times. And, you know, that's a little bit different than I would have thought to be honest.

Legal, Ethical and Honest This March, 14 celebrities are banking on one role. The Celebrity Apprentice returns Sunday, March 14th 9/8c.

Bill Goldberg

Brett Michaels

Carol Leifer

Curtis Stone

Cyndi Lauper

Darryl Strawberry

Holly Robinson Peete

Maria Kanellis

Michael Johnson

Rod Blagojevich

Sharon Osbourne Get up close and personal with Sharon and see why she's ready to be the next Celebrity Apprentice.

Sinbad

Summer Sanders

CELEBRITY APPRENTICE Men Versus Women Donald Trump welcomes the new contestants and they better be ready to get down to business.

So Unusual Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for Cyndi Lauper.

A little help from your friends

Sinbad tries to give Rod some "political" advice.