In her newly released memoir, You Better Believe I'm Gonna Talk About It, television personality Lisa Rinna has opened up about her experiences filming alongside Donald Trump on the reality competition series Celebrity Apprentice. The former Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, now 62, participated in two separate seasons of the show, first in 2011 and again in 2013 for an all-stars edition.
Rinna's Apprentice Journey and Trump Interactions
Rinna's initial appearance on the fourth season of Celebrity Apprentice concluded abruptly when she received Trump's signature dismissal during just the second week of competition. "The night I got Trump's signature 'You're Fired!' I called Harry [Hamlin, her husband] sobbing from my room at 12:30 in the morning," she recounted in her memoir. Her return for the Celebrity Apprentice: All-Stars season proved more successful, with Rinna ultimately securing fourth place in the competition.
No Early Indicators of Controversial Future
Addressing frequent public curiosity about Trump, Rinna wrote: "Everyone always asks me to spill the tea on Trump, but I don't have any." She elaborated significantly on her observations during their professional interactions, noting: "There were no signs back then that he'd become the monster he is today. Trump was a great entertainer. He would come out, say his lines, do his job, and move it along."
Rinna further reflected on this apparent transformation, stating: "I do find it interesting that I didn't think Trump was gross at the time. He was nice to me, he was professional, and on time. That's all you ever want on a set. Flash forward to today, I really dislike him. I think he's horrible and has ruined the world. I was as shocked as anybody at who he became. Maybe he's always been that way and he finally took the mask off."
Encounters with Trump Family Members
During her tenure on the reality program, Rinna encountered multiple members of the Trump family, including Melania, Ivanka, Eric, and Donald Trump Jr. She characterized Melania and Ivanka Trump as "robots" and "total Stepford Wives" in her memoir. Regarding the former president's sons, she added: "And the sons Don Jr. and Eric were just as gross as they are now."
Connection to Real Housewives Departure
Rinna, who departed The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in 2023 after eight seasons, identified her vocal criticism of Donald Trump as contributing to fan backlash during her final season. She entered filming for season twelve while processing profound grief, having lost her mother Lois merely three days before production commenced.
"I had so much repressed anger from my mother's death then, and the feeling that I was forced to go back to work too soon," Rinna explained. "I really lost my mind. I started acting out loudly on social media. I was just calling people out — I even called Donald Trump out. I mean, who knows what I even did? I was in the fog of my own grief."
The television personality described watching herself lash out repeatedly throughout that season while unleashing her innermost thoughts across social media platforms, ultimately leading to her exit from the popular reality franchise.
