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Donald Trump has finalized his cast for NBC's The Celebrity Apprentice (premiering Sunday, Feb. 12, at 9 p.m. ET, on NBC), and he's obviously followed his usual mantra: Wallflowers need not apply.
No, Trump's guiding principle is to fill his boardroom with as many quick-tempered (if not quick-witted) personalities as he can. Among this season's sharks are two antagonistic reality stars, Teresa Giudice of The Real Housewives of New Jersey and Victoria Gotti of Growing up Gotti; a heavy metal singer, Dee Sider of Twisted Sister, a sarcastic magician, Penn Jillette and The Incredible Hulk's Lou Ferrigno.
That's not to mention the current and former models he's thrown into the mix, a source of potential cattiness that includes Cheryl Tiegs, Patricia Velasquez and former Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza. (She's not to be confused with another former Miss Universe, Dayanara Torres, who was Marc Anthony's first wife.)
In between these known fighters, Trump fills in the gaps with neutral stars of both high wattage and low. This time that list includes the amiable pop star Clay Aiken, who was runner up on American Idol; goofy comedian Arsenio Hall and blast-from-the-past celebs like 80's pop star Debbie Gibson and Wayne's World hottie Tia Carrere.
As usual, Trump and company are tight-lipped on how the season is going. (They've filmed three episodes so far.) Commentators have naturally predicted sparks between Giudice and Gotti, but on NBC's Today, Gotti singled out comedienne Lisa Lampanelli as a particularly nasty competitor. Who knows, maybe Guidice and Gotti liked each other. Could they have teamed up to create an unstoppable force of bitchiness?
"This is the best cast we've ever had, the biggest cast, and it's going to be special," Trump told People magazine, with his characteristic humility. And on Today, he joked about the danger of potentially firing Gotti, considering that her father is well-known mobster, John Gotti. Hey, anything for ratings, right? Here's the full list of competitors.
Clay Aiken (American Idol runner up, pop star)
Michael Andretti (IndyCar race car driver)
Teresa Giudice (The Real Housewives of New Jersey)
Victoria Gotti (Growing Up Gotti)
Lisa Lampanelli (comedienne)
Dayna Mendoza (former Miss Universe)
Dee Snyder (rock musician)
Paul Teutul, Sr. (American Chopper)
Arsenio Hall (talk show host, comedian)
Adam Carolla (radio host)
Lou Ferrigno (bodybuilder, Incredible Hulk TV actor)
Penn Jillette (magician, comedian)
George Takei (Star Trek actor)
Cheryl Tiegs (supermodel)
Debbie Gibson (pop star)
Tia Carrere (actress, singer)
Aubrey O'Day (singer, Making the Band)
Patricia Velasquez (model)
With such a motley crew pitted against each other, there is one guarantee -- there will be plenty of arguing this season!
