https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27Gq8oecscE
The Celebrity Apprentice is full of many different personalities this season, and Vivica A Fox is the only one who is standing out in a positive light. I know my impression of her has changed for the better since I have been watching her on the show that airs Mondays at 8p on NBC.
So what would make this successful actress do the business reality show? Recently at the NBC TCA Winter Press Day, she said the main reason she did it, “was to be taken out of her comfort zone.” Then she added, “I didn’t have the agent, I didn’t have the manager. I didn’t have people that I could turn to.” What you see of her on the show is who she is, and there was no one there to spin her persona to be press friendly.
She knew this show was going to be hard because she asked her friends Holly Robinson Peete, Star Jones and Mark McGrath what it was like to be on the reality show since they were all previous contestants on it. McGrath said it best when he told her, “They are going to work the living daylights out of you.” He wasn’t kidding because she told us that they work 12 hour days, six days a week. While she could handle those hours, others couldn’t and they let it show.
In fact, that was one thing, I don’t think, she was prepared for when she signed up to be on the show. When talking about some of her fellow teammates she had this to say about them, “They are a different breed. It was taxing on my spirit to be around people that are so catty. I have never in my life.” She explained that they couldn’t take the criticism and it would drive her crazy. There would be times she would have to step away from them because it would be too much.
While all of that sounds like your perfect scripted reality show that airs on other networks, she said that is not the case with The Celebrity Apprentice. She says that the show plays out like they lived it. Explaining, “I was pleasantly surprised to see Celebrity Apprentice play out like a beautiful business Soap Opera.” Adding, “So many times now with the reality shows, because we have so many, and to me they are starting to get scripted, badly.” Concluding her answer by saying, “With Celebrity Apprentice, what you guys are seeing is what you get. They didn’t force anything. You didn’t have a little ear thingy in your ear telling you to say stuff to people.” It’s the real deal just like it is in business.
Which is a good thing because on this show, she said, “Everyone’s goal was to win.” How they went about it, they all did it different ways. Then she added, “Some I liked, some I didn’t.” When she didn’t like it, she would step away.
And Fox wants us to step away from the show with this impression of her. She wants people to see her as a grown businesswoman. Did you know she has had a business for 20 years? You didn’t? Now you do. In fact, the impression she made on the show has worked out well for her because ever since it started airing her phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Something I am sure it will continue to do, long after the finale airs on February 16th.
