Rod Blagojevich was easily the most controversial contestant on this season of "Celebrity Apprentice." The former Governor of Illinois was dismissed following a scandal involving President Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat, but he took part in Donald Trump's reality show in order to raise money for his charity.
Being that Rod was a rather talkative fellow, I only had the opportunity to ask a couple of questions.
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Matt Carter: How did you end up on 'Celebrity Apprentice' to begin with?
Rod Blagojevich (laughs): I'm still trying to figure that out. Everything dramatically changed when I was hijacked from office and accused of doing things I didn't do and I'm living in this sort of Kafka-esque wilderness right now, and I've been very blessed -- and has my wife [Patti] -- in that we've been given opportunities most people who lose there jobs have not be given, and that is being on successful TV shows like 'Celebrity Apprentice.'
I don't know how they got the idea, but when they approached me I was quick to say 'yes.' And there's also that I'm a big fan of Donald Trump and big admirer of his. From his success in the business world to the fact that's he a maverick -- he's willing to buck the trend -- and I saw myself as that kind of Governor...a guy who also knew what it was like to be on top and come tumbling down, which was the case in the early nineties when he was $900 million in debt, to take adversity and use it as a catalyst for even bigger success.
So because of my personal admiration of him, and an understanding of his story, when the offer came to be on his show, it didn't take me long to decide to do it and decide to fight for a charity.
I'm the kind of guy who hates to lose anything -- I certainly didn't like losing the Harry Potter challenge and I didn't like getting fired. My biggest regret is if you don't win a project, you don't win money for the charity you're fighting for...children's healthcare was the biggest thing I did as Governor, and being able to raise money for the Children's Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, something that [Trump] gave me a chance to do. The biggest thing is that I didn't get a chance to raise money for them, but I did get a chance to mention their name a little bit and hopefully that helped.
Matt: Did you really want to be Project Manager on this task?
Rod: You know what? You're right -- your question is well-taken -- when [Donald] throws it at you in that way, you got to take the challenge. At that time I didn't know what the task was. We were told the task after the Project Managers were chosen. The irony...we were told we weren't going to know what the task was was when Selita [Ebanks] and I arrived at the airport. Then when we got on the plane, that was when we were told what the plan was. It became very apparent to me, much to my dismay, was that I stumbled into a task where I was the Project Manager and an integral part of the project is being able to communicate with phones and [texting] and the new technology...that I completely wasn't skilled in.
Had I known that was the case, I might've made an argument to my team that we would've used someone more proficient with [phones]. But I didn't know that at the time -- had I known what the project was, for the good of the team I would've said maybe we're better off having someone else do the technology and I'll do something else for the good of the team.
You gotta deal with the cards you're dealt with, and not withstanding by deficiencies with cell phones and text messaging I still think at the end of day when you look at our project and theirs, it was really close. I'm not so sure that the inability to send text messages was the reason we lost. I think that was just convenient for Michael [Johnson] and Curtis [Stone] and others: let's face it, the team concept only goes so far...human nature kicks in and survival instinct sets up. These guys were all about making sure they pointed fingers in another place to protect their position...I think we lost because the women just did a little bit better than we did, and if had any regrets about what I did there, it's that I forgot to focus on that darn dragon. At Orlando I saw that Dragon in the Harry Potter world, the mouth of that dragon should have been part of our project -- I should have conveyed that to [Bret].
But I didn't do that, and when I saw the women did I realized I missed an opportunity...I should have done that.
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Did Rod Blagojevich on "Celebrity Apprentice" change your opinion of him in any way? Let me know your thoughts below and check back soon for more TV news.
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