We’re in the home stretch to the finale of NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice. On Sunday night at 8:00pm ET, World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner Annie Duke will square off against comedian Joan Rivers in what promises to be a high-octane three hour conclusion.
Here’s what we know about the final episode of Celebrity Apprentice Season 2: Duke and Rivers will battle it out in a complex task that incorporates fundraising, leadership ability, and pure determination. Yahoo Television gives the following description of the finale, revealing its central task: “In the season finale, former celebrity contestants return to help the two finalists throw a pre-theater VIP bash preceding a performance of the Cirque du Soleil show Wintuk. The party also includes a silent auction.” A portion of the finale will play out in front of a live studio audience in New York City.
In a preview for the show that aired at the end of last week’s episode, it appears that Duke leads a team that includes comedian Tom Green, NBA star Dennis Rodman, and Playboy Playmate of the Year Brande Roderick, who has been one of her strongest allies throughout the show. Rivers will lead three celebrities of her own: country music star Clint Black, daughter and producer Melissa Rivers, and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker. No indication of how the teams were selected was given. Rodman was fired amid a boardroom intervention earlier this season after repeated drinking led fellow Celebrity Apprentice contestant Jesse James to conclude that he had a real-life problem.
On Friday, Duke and Rivers will battle over the television airwaves. Duke is slated to appear on Access Hollywood, a syndicated celebrity news program. The show airs throughout the United States; check your local listings for more information. A press release distributed by Ultimate Bet on Thursday announcing Duke’s appearance on the popular entertainment program states, “True to her nature at the tournament tables, the world poker champion has remained calm while enduring an onslaught of personal attacks from Joan Rivers throughout the reality series.” Duke has been compared to Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini during Celebrity Apprentice. Rivers also labeled her a Nazi.
Meanwhile, Duke’s adversary will be making her rounds. Rivers will appear on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon on Friday. The show airs following The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on NBC. Fallon took over hosting duties from Conan O’Brien in March. O’Brien, in turn, will replace Jay Leno next month, as Leno takes on a weekday program on NBC airing at 10:00pm ET. Rivers revealed to Poker News Daily that she is currently in London and will return to New York on Friday for Fallon’s show. On Saturday, she will be attending the theater in the Big Apple with her grandson and will then perform in New Jersey. Duke told Poker News Daily that she is having dinner with the group of men she befriended during the Loews Hotel challenge earlier this season on Friday night.
It was also revealed this week that Duke’s fellow pro at Ultimate Bet, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, will appear on the Celebrity Apprentice season finale, although his role is not yet known. Hellmuth nearly turned up during a challenge earlier this season in which contestants were asked to auction off jewelry from Ivanka Trump’s line for charity. Professional golfer Natalie Gulbis, who was a member of Duke’s opposition, called up Hellmuth and asked him to bid against Duke’s team. However, the Ultimate Bet pro declined.
The second season of Celebrity Apprentice began airing on March 1st with 16 contestants. The reality series is actually in its eighth season overall and is hosted by real estate mogul Donald Trump. Over time, it even produced a spin-off, The Apprentice: Martha Stewart. Previous winners of Trump’s Apprentice series include Bill Rancic, Kelly Perdew, Kendra Todd, Randal Pinkett, Sean Yazbeck, Stefanie Schaeffer, and Celebrity Apprentice Season 1 winner Piers Morgan.
SPOILER
Some details about the final show:
“In the hours before a performance of Cirque du Soleil’s hit show “Wintuk,” each team will produce a pre-theatre VIP party, sponsored by Kodak, featuring a silent auction made up of items the celebrities themselves bring to the table. The feuding finalists vow to mercilessly defeat one another and they begin their task. However, with little time remaining, the event planning company quits, and both teams struggle to quickly transform a completely empty space into an environment that will impress the Kodak executives. The live boardroom, held at New York City’s Museum of Natural History, hosts a reunion with this season’s competing celebrities and the return of last year’s winner Piers Morgan and runner up, country star Trace Adkins. In the final minutes of this live finale, Donald Trump mediates one last boardroom blowout between Joan and Annie, fires one of them and announces this season’s “Celebrity Apprentice”
Go Annie!
Trump collusion undisclosed by the program is disgusting. Trump’s sister-in-law sits on the board of Joan’s charity. Also, Joan has a new program on some tv channel (may be channel online), this after she and M were fired from the red carpet gig. Apparently this new show is owned by the guy who puts on Celeb Apprentice. Then there’s the OBVIOUS bias Trump has shown to Joan by allowing her on the show with her daughter, and by allowing her to make final 2 when she absolutely should have been fired on sooooooo many other occasions.
Was there collusion in the 1st place and a promise to give her the win? I wouldn’t doubt it. it’s obvious he already planned to give her final 2. He probably expected she and M in final 2, never expecting a star out of that group as Annie has turned out to be.
Joan is a lunatic and plain ole white trash. I’m sick of hearing “but she’s 75!”. So what? hand it to this b’tch because she’s 75? Talk about blood on your hands.. look how she makes a living, jokes about Hitler and 9/11 victims. Screw her. She’s the epitome of low class trash.
We shall see what happens. Trump HANDED Joan final 2. Now we’ll just have to see if he wrongly HANDS her the win too.
I had the opportunity to be invited to the finale as one of Annie’s guests as a skater for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby league, and I just happen to also play poker for a living. Other celeb poker players that were in attendance and might be on the show tonight: Howard Lederer, Andy Bloch, Perry Friedman, and Erik Seidel.
Absolutely Disgusted watching the last episode. Very very interesting comments in the above, but now makes perfect sense. To bad there is politics even in charity fund raising shows. Joan Rivers, acted like a complete simple, old hag who lied and just wouldn’t shut up the entire show. She quit the show, said it wasn’t about money but ends up winning the Celebrity apprentice. Wow, wow, wow. The worst part of this whole ordeal was everyone calling her a role model?? How on earth is Joan Rivers a role model, shes an old hag, who complains and wines when things are going her way. Absolutely disgusted and ruins the whole point of playing the game, raising money and being a business person. Even her charity, although a great cause for persons infected with Aids, but do you have to give food to people to are middle class, who are up and about and have beautiful kitchens? So, in the end, the woman who raised more money, won more challenges, played the game to an art form for a charity that is worth while and would really make a difference loses to an old, simple, grandma who complains, quits, raised a tool for a child and ruined the final competition for both players and is now the celebrity apprentice
last time i checked this show was about business and not personality and popularity. last nights finale might as well have been called that joan show. anne by FAR did the best job and outplayed everyone and deserved to win. if i recall in the final task, herschel came up with the majority of the good ideas, not joan. i find it extremely distasteful that trump rewarded joan as the winner after the numerous personal attacks she gave anne. shame…
I absolutely don’t get it. WTF. I’m not a poker player. I googled Joan Rivers in the news section and this page came up. I’m a huge Joan Rivers fan but come on. Is everyone so completely blind to see who the real winner should have been?
Points to be made…
No.1: Joan WAS the person who made the decorator quit. The video proved it. Then she went off on Annie saying she was a liar. It was quite alright for them not to believe Annie in the boardroom but after everyone saw the video at the finale, the stupid audience were all booing for the wrong reasons. HELLO!? I’d understand if you’re Melissa but you ‘should’ know right from wrong.
No.2: Although Annie was the clear candidate to have won but put into Trump’s shoes, would you have chosen Annie over Joan? Joan was probably asked to be on the show but then told Trump she wouldn’t do it unless her daughter was on as well. I personally never heard of Melissa. But anyways, back on topic… Joan won 3/5 of the task. Piers mentioned it as well so it was hard for Trump to be like, uhh forget about the assignment.
No.3: Joan got nasty. I love the woman but she got on a too personal level with the attacks. It’s a game and Annie played it well and fair.
joan did not callher hitler someone said she was nice and joan said so was hitlers mother>>?? soi dont know where they got that also everything out of annie was I I I IIIIIIIII i got so tired of big I all Me if she had not been so pushy i would have like her bettter and she did said t joan lets get brandy soooooooooooo she should have lost