Crave Online: How did you get involved with Celebrity Apprentice?
Maria Kanellis: It was funny because Donald Trump was working with World Wrestling Entertainment. He came to the show and he asked a bunch of people, “Who would I bring onto the show? Who would I bring onto Celebrity Apprentice?” They said me. I was a fan of the show and I love working for charity, so I said yes immediately and that’s how I got on.
Crave Online: Was this when they shaved his head?
Maria Kanellis: No, it was after that, when he came and bought Raw for one day.
Crave Online: Have you started shooting yet?
Maria Kanellis: We’ve already shot most of it. There’s only a little bit left to shoot.
Crave Online: How does wrestling prepare you for the boardroom?
Maria Kanellis: What’s amazing about it is there’s so many different women personalities all meshing together and in the locker room it’s the same thing. You have so many different types of personality in the same locker room. So for me, I use my experience with that as well as experiences from the past and just kind of went forward and fought. That’s all we do.
Crave Online: Do you mean the locker room we see on camera as part of your story, or the real locker room where you’re being yourselves?
Maria Kanellis: Both, definitely both because where you fight and where you play is all taken into consideration with Celebrity Apprentice as well. You have to learn how to relate to other women, to other personalities.
Crave Online: What’s your charity?
Maria Kanellis: Make a Wish Foundation.
Crave Online: What are some of the fun challenges?
Maria Kanellis: I can’t tell you about the challenges. That’s one thing I can’t tell you about but what I can tell you is this season was probably the funniest out of the three seasons. I mean, come on. Brett Michaels, Sharon Osborne, there were some very interesting personalities definitely.
Crave Online: Are there any challenges where you have a physical advantage for being athletic?
Maria Kanellis: Yes, it is a very intense show and you have to lift and move and you’ve got so much to do, it’s all under time constraints so you’re constantly doing something. So because of my physical background, it helped me so much.
Crave Online: Is it men versus women?
Maria Kanellis: Women versus men, that’s how it starts.
Crave Online: Do you ever use your tag team experience to learn how to pick a partner and team up for a little bit?
Maria Kanellis: No, just because this is a totally different thing. There, it might be just all based on physical. Here it’s based on what they know, what they’ve done in their past, what they’ve learned from the different charities that they’ve been with, where they’re at in their careers. So definitely completely different in that aspect.
