Maria Kanellis Shares What She Regrets From Donald Trump’s “Celebrity Apprentice”

Maria Kanellis opened up about her experience on Celebrity Apprentice after being fired from the program by Donald Trump in 2010.

Back in 2010, Maria Kanellis appeared as a contestant on the Donald Trump-helmed Celebrity Apprentice. The series began in March, and Kanellis was fired by Donald Trump in May, placing fifth in the competition that was eventually won by Poison star Bret Michaels.

Speaking to NBC’s Ten Count podcast this week, Maria Kanellis opened up about the experience, saying the only thing she regrets is apologizing to Trump for the way she spoke when “pressured” to do so.

“I think the only thing I regret about the experience is apologizing for the way that I talked, because I don’t regret it at all. I don’t regret bringing something up that was supposed to be funny and it wasn’t taken that way. But why, as a woman, am I not allowed to talk that way?

“The only thing I regret is apologizing for it after the fact. They wanted me to apologize on the finale and I was pressured to apologize and so I did, but ever since then I’m like, why? Why did I apologize? I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Continuing, Maria Kanellis expressed pride in her performance and indicated that the only reason she was fired was that she wasn’t the most famous person on the show.

“I won every single challenge that I was the head of. Every time I was a part of some project we were doing, it was successful. So, there was no reason for him to fire me other than I wasn’t the most famous person on the show.”

In addition to Michaels, some of her competitors included Holly Robinson Peete, Sharon Osbourne, fellow wrestling star Bill Goldberg, and Cyndi Lauper, who will be portrayed by Becky Lynch in an upcoming episode of Young Rock.

h/t WrestlingInc