Celebrity Apprentice Finale: Carnival Cruise Showdown

The Carnival Cruise Challenge continued with the final showdown between Boy George and Matt Iseman on 2/13/2017. After some scenes from the first part of this challenge, we picked up with Matt and Boy George putting the finishing touches on their presentations.

The sets for their presentations were very close so when Matt Iseman arrived on his finished set, he couldn’t help sizing up what Boy George had going on nearby. Matt’s side had ice sculptures, a poker table, a photo booth and live animals. Kyle Richards was holding a baby kangaroo. Matt thought Boy George’s setup was nice, but there just wasn’t a lot to draw people in by comparison. When Carson Kressley saw what was going on over at Matt’s, he got a big case of “kangaroo envy.”

Big donors started showing up with large checks at Matt’s charity booth, while Matt whooped and hollered at every donation. Boy George was put off by Matt’s enthusiasm and he was also suffering a lot of anxiety because Caitlyn Jenner, his star guest, was taking her sweet time getting there. “Where’s Caitlyn,” he kept saying. She was bringing a $90,000 donation and as he watched the money flowing in on Team Matt, you knew it was curtains for Boy George if Caitlyn was a no show. But better late than never, as they say. She finally showed up with the cast of “I Am Cait,” the $90,000 and congratulations for Boy George’s 8-years of sobriety.

Arnold “The Governor” Schwarzenegger. his nephew Patrick, Tyra Banks and Arnold Donald visited Boy George’s team first, accompanied by the cruise line presidents. Matt observed that they missed an opportunity by not personally greeting them. His team not only did that, they handed out “passports” and explained how it was their guide to the different areas on their set.

Time now for the variety shows:

Matt Iseman went first. He knew that his pictures weren’t that great and meant to compensate for that with his personal story of how rheumatoid arthritis affected his life. Wendy Wilson joined her sister Carnie onstage, along with Chynna Phillips. The 3 ladies, professionally known as Wilson Phillips, sang their No. 1 song: “Hold On,” which we had coincidentally put in last week’s recap when we knew the group was going to be in Matt’s variety show. The audience loved it, getting on their feet, clapping and singing along.

Carson kicked things off for Boy George with their fabulous photos, visually debunking the cruise myths. CEO Arnold Donald was super-pleased with that. Boy George thanked Carson and told the audience that every home should have a Carson Kressley (“He’s amazing). Then he sang “Joy,” the song that he wrote for the Princess Cruise line. (He got his keyboardist drama all straightened out earlier), with professional dancers performing in front of the audience. Natasha Bedingfield was up next to perform “A Pocketful of Sunshine.” Boy George wrapped it up with his huge No. 1 hit from his Culture Club days: “Karma Chameleon.” That not only got everyone on their feet, they were all dancing. The Governor danced with Laila Ali and Porsha Williams. Carson danced with Natasha Bedingfield. Arnold Donald and Tyra Banks got their groove on up near the stage while Patrick Schwarzenegger rocked on with one of the professional dancers.

In the boardroom, the Governor wanted to know how Matt inspired Carrie Keagan to raise so much money. He said that his good friend Sylvestor Stallone called him to say how surprised he was to get a call from Carrie, hustling for Matt’s charity. Be that as it may, Stallone anted up. Both teams heaped praises on their project manager. Matt and Boy George were likewise profusive in their assessments of their helpers. Tyra Banks said the presentations made her want to pick a cruise for her family’s next vacation. Of course, they dragged out who won through two commercials.

The money factor: Boy George raised $445,925 and Matt raised $573,329. Matt did it by enlisting the help of his charity since he did not have a big name rolodex like Boy George does. Ultimately, that was the deciding factor for Matt Iseman winning the top $250,000 prize and becoming the Celebrity Apprentice for this season. Matt went back to celebrate with everyone except, we think, Boy George. We didn’t see him there and they didn’t show him going to the chopper either.

It was a well-deserved win for Matt because he gave it his all, despite his disadvantages in the final task when compared with Boy George, namely Carson Kressley, the donor rolodex, George’s ability to write a theme song and (you knew it was coming) “Karma Chameleon.”

We don’t know if this will turn out to be the last season of “Celebrity Apprentice,” given the ongoing dialogue about the falling ratings. In our opinion, that has more to do with the time slot this season, as well as the lack of intrigue on the show. Though the drama often seemed contrived on “Celebrity Apprentice,” it was still entertaining. The one dirty trick in this season (Chael Sonnen cheating) really wasn’t very amusing. If they do want to bring it back, we would suggest a different host each season. Schwarzenegger’s endless interjections, holding himself up as a model for success, weren’t very entertaining either.

Click here for the final termination list