Representing the world of poker on the second season of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice” is Annie Duke. The World Series of Poker bracelet winner can be seen every Sunday for two hours starting at 9:00pm ET. Replays of the show air six days later on Saturdays. Duke sat down with Poker News Daily to talk about life behind the scene for the show’s 16 contestants.
Poker News Daily: Tell us what a typical day is like on the set of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.” What is your schedule?
Duke: People would be surprised. It’s harder for women because you have to do hair and makeup first. I would wake up at about 4:30am, take a quick shower, and then run down to get hair and makeup. We’d usually leave for the task presentation around 6:30am or 7:00am. The tasks would go until about 11:00 at night. Then, you’d go back to the hotel. You’d go to sleep at 12:30am or 1:00am and then start over the next day. I’d say it was about three to five hours of sleep per night. On boardroom days, the task would be done at 2:00pm and the boardroom took place at 5:00pm. You’d be done by about 9:00pm or 9:30pm. Each task is two days long and they shoot three episodes per week.
PND: When did you find time to eat?
Duke: I didn’t eat much of anything during the first two episodes. You’d get your food, but you’d be involved in something and it would get cold. We tried to find foods that would still taste good even if it was cold. I think I had one turkey wrap with cheese and mustard a day. I lost about five pounds. It was a lot of weight. We all got really skinny.
PND: What were the sleeping arrangements and where was your suite located?
Duke: It wasn’t like the regular “Apprentice.” We all had our own rooms. They put us up in Trump International, which is a hotel. I had a mini suite with some tea, peanut butter, and rice cakes. You’d think that you’d be starving, but I’d get back home and it would be Midnight. I’d go back to my room and just wasn’t hungry.
PND: How long does the boardroom take to film?
Duke: It’s really long. It takes about three hours and they really cut it down. It’s hot in there, too. I noticed last night how sweaty the guys were. The air conditioners in that room are really loud, so they just shut them off during filming. You’ll notice that I’m usually wearing short sleeves in the board room. I think they prefer to have people sweat anyway.
PND: What about the personal interviews?
Duke: During the three hour downtime after each task, they have to interview everyone. That’s a long process. Each one took 30 to 45 minutes. My interviews were longer than everyone else’s because I guess I like to talk. After the boardroom, they’ll take a few people who were key players during the task aside for on the fly interviews. Other personal interviews are held during tasks.
PND: Talk about the size of the “Celebrity Apprentice” staff.
Duke: It’s humungous. The producers rotate and take every other task because the hours are so long. There are two producers on each task for each team because the teams often have different places to go. That’s four producers and four directors right there. They also have cameramen and a lot of sound guys. That doesn’t even include the executive producers.
There is one producer that is in charge of the rules for each challenge. Sometimes, we’d have questions, so we were often in communication with them. I would take them aside and ask, “If we wanted to do this, would it be allowed?” A lot of the contestants on the show know people who might be experts at what we’re doing and you don’t necessarily know how much outside help you’re allowed. During the Zappos.com task, they were clear that if you knew someone at the company, you couldn’t contact them. I knew an executive at Marvel Comics, but wasn’t allowed to call them.
PND: Where is the boardroom and what does it look like in person?
Duke: What you see on television is exactly what it looks like. It still hurts my stomach to see it on television. We stayed at Trump International, which is a hotel. The boardroom was at Trump Tower. When you see us in our war rooms for each task, it’s in a different location every time. They move it around to get some variety.
PND: What happens during the three hour downtime between the end of each task and the boardroom?
Duke: You get your makeup touched up. Then, you do personal interviews. Then, you go into the boardroom. It’s a long process. There were certainly days when it was horrible to have to wait. Sometimes you’re sure you wouldn’t get fired. On the first task, I knew that I had raised the most money and wasn’t going to get fired. I didn’t have any problems waiting around.
The second task’s boardroom was hard to wait for. It was the judgment of Tony from Zappos.com. I knew that I had conflicts with my team, so I was concerned. It’s hard to wait for a few hours.
PND: Talk about the conflict with Joan Rivers during the boardroom on the second task.
Duke: Joan attacked me in the boardroom more than they showed. Brande Roderick came to my defense, which wasn’t aired. Joan’s half of the team was done at 8:00pm, but the challenge ran until 11:00pm. Half of our team just left. Melissa Rivers, Khloe Kardashian, Brande, and I were left there working because we had to create all of the panels. We ended up doing a lot of the design, also. Brande and I got up earlier than everyone else the next day to get all of the printing stuff done. Then, Joan started attacking me. She was gone at 8:00pm. She didn’t see what happened. Brande said to Trump in the boardroom, “I am upset that people are attacking Annie.”
PND: Does each challenge run until 11:00pm or just the Zappos.com task?
Duke: You have to have everything done by a certain time. That’s what people didn’t understand about the first task. At 11:00pm, we turned into pumpkins. I was keeping my eye on the time to let people know that we needed to do everything before the clock struck 11. It’s so funny to see people rolling their eyes at that. That’s why I was saying we needed to get all of it done.
PND: What did you think about the men naming their character “EEE” when a marketing campaign for Zappos.com should have featured a name that included the letter Z?
Duke: It seemed like it would be obvious that you’d have a Z in the name. Tom Green was opening up a whole list of Z names. It’s interesting because I loved Scott Hamilton, who was fired. I would talk to Scott in the mornings and I thought he’d do well on the show. Obviously, it was a grave error to have the name “EEE,” so I understand why he got fired.
PND: Last week, you told us that you admired the men’s team’s Jesse James. Talk about his appearance on this week’s show.
Duke: This time, he was in charge of the look and feel of the comic strip and costume. I was really unhappy until I saw the name “EEE.” The look of their comic was much more modern and slick than ours; the costume was amazing. Jesse produced in a big way. He’s quiet, but he’s to the point and productive. You can definitely see that in the first two episodes.
PND: This week’s episode on Sunday night airs for only one hour at 10:00pm ET. We understand you have some inside information for us?
Duke: I’ve been told that the replay, which is still two hours and airs next Saturday (March 22nd) is really funny. If you watch on Sunday, try to watch the one on Saturday too.
Go get em Annie Wipe the floor with the Rivers phony face