A Reality Check With The Apprentice’s Heidi & Kristine: They’re Not Rooting For Anyone
By Gina
Heidi & Kristine stop by Reality Check to discuss the surprise double firing in last night’s episode. Given the opportunity to work in pairs, they created a marketing campaign for Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas. Turns out trying to go against each other was a fatal move.
RC: How did you get on The Apprentice? Did you submit a tape or go to open casting call?
Heidi: I went to an open casting call here in L.A. really with no thought of getting on the show, to be honest. I went there & I brought my brochures & business cards.
Kristine: I went in to the last round of auditions, word was out in an L.A. newspaper. They put out an ad looking for lawyers in the final round of casting. I snuck in at the end!
RC: Did you underestimate how stressful the boardroom can be?
Heidi: Yeah, they can go for a very long time. I’ve been on both sides of it. I have had a lot of high pressure, stressful situations but this one certainly takes the cake. I’m turning grey at 26 after being on The Apprentice!
Kristine: The only one that caught me off guard was last night! I had talked to people who had been on the show & they were like, “It’s hours! Be prepared, it’s hours.” The one thing you have to figure out how to do is how to win tasks & stay out of the boardroom and if you’re in the boardroom, don’t speak unless you’re spoken to. It’s about reading the room. When I lost as project manager, I made my comments about Muna & she just kept talking & talking & talking. She did herself in.
RC: It seemed that Kinetic was going to dominate the whole season, looking at it from the beginning. Was there a specific moment when things started to shift?
Heidi: I don’t know. There were several really strong candidates there, everyone who was there deserved to be there.
Kristine: I don’t really think that there was a moment in time. We got really lucky in the beginning. The editors make it look like we were some amazing team. We got lucky during the car wash task – we got 3 more cars priced a little better. We were lucky on the swimsuit task as well. We were barely skating along the whole time anyway. All the tasks were so close except Universal.
RC: Looking back on last night’s episode, would you have chosen to team up with each other instead of against each other?
Heidi: I wanted to work with Kristine. She was trying to get rid of me! It was tough working with Frank because he & I have never worked together. We were at a total disadvantage. James & Stefani had worked together since day 1, Nicole & Kristine for two tasks. Frank & I were night & day.
Kristine: I don’t know! I said that but I don’t know. My reason for doing that … she was made to look like a shining star early on without really doing anything. The car wash – we got lucky. The swimsuit – Arrow lost that one, we didn’t win! on the task 2 weeks ago, the Smartmouth campaign – she didn’t do a good job at all. Heidi actually apologized to me after the task saying it wasn’t her best performance. I was thinking, “I can do this with Nicole, she’s a go-getter, I’ll keep her under control. This will be my opportunity to show him – Heidi isn’t winning all these tasks.” I knew that Frank & Heidi together would be … DISASTER.
RC: Okay, so neither of you really got to explain what happened last night. What were you trying to say in the boardroom?
Heidi: The brochure – we had literally 5 minutes to do. I had the text & all I wanted to do was put some graphics in. I had it all ready for our graphic designer. The time limit was up because Frank had left the video camera in Vegas & they didn’t show that. It’s a bummer that it came to be the way it did.
Kristine: The phone number was from the Trump website. It was on the Vegas website, on the page where it says “Contact Us”. It is not his preferred phone number because it doesn’t go directly to the sales office. I thought I screwed up a digit but no, I put the phone number I intended to put there! I tried to explain to him although he know I was BSing him. The firing happened so much faster than they show on tv. There’s something weird with him & Nicole, I don’t know what it is. A father-daughter love, should I give it so much credit? A fantasy love, a Tim-Nicole-Trump love, there’s something… she’s untouchable. Had he given me the opportunity to fight, I would’ve buried her.
RC: Is there anyone in particular you’re rooting for?
Heidi: May the best person win!
Kristine: No. The best person isn’t there.
RC: Now that you’re back, what have you been up to?
Heidi: Well I’m still working in the aviation & helicopter industry. With that, I’ve learned an awful lot. I’m writing a book called “In The Men’s Room” out this summer. It’s about being a woman in a male-dominated work industry.
Kristine: I’m still working and my husband & I are looking for a location to open a restaurant for him. He was patient with me while I did the show. I said to him, “Let me get through the show & do what I need to do and then we’ll go for your stuff.”
Thanks to Heidi & Nicole for taking the time to chat!
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