‘The Celebrity Apprentice: All-Stars’: Clay Aiken, Annie Duke among snubs

When “The Celebrity Apprentice” released their all-star cast recently, we had a rather simple reason to it: wait, what?! While there were some great selections (Penn Jillette, Omarosa), there were also a number of choices that make us roll our eyes a little bit. In particular, we don’t know what Donald Trump was doing in ignoring so many of the great women who have been on this show over the years.

With that in mind, we’ve compiled a list of ten people that for whatever reason, the producers overlooked in casting this season. It’s possible that these people just weren’t interested, but really the only people we would have kept on the show over them that are on the current cast are Trace Adkins, Gary Busey, Lil Jon, Omarosa, Brande Roderick, and maybe La Toya Jackson. Add these ten people, and you would have had a perfect cast.

The men

Gene Simmons – It’s a Kodak world. Welcome. The fact that Kodak is really no longer around shows that Gene may have actually been right when it comes to his slogan back during season 1. He was fired thanks mostly to his own arrogance and fired too soon, but he really is the best celebrity this show could get.

Clay Aiken – He and Annie Duke are the two greatest players to never win, and we’ll stand by our choice of him as the more deserving winner over Arsenio Hall any day of the week.

Meat Loaf – No, it’s not just so he can scream at Gary Busey again, even if that was great television. We love a touch of crazy on our television set, and what is great about Meat Loaf is that he brings that while also bringing passionate and a fantastic business mind.

Curtis Stone – Look how much Curtis’ career was helped by this show. He’s just such a likable guy, and you do need a few of these people to root for from time to time.

Jesse James – By the same token, you also need a villain. What would be interesting about seeing Jesse on the show again is that the last time he was on the show, America loved him. Now, America hates him thanks to what happened with Sandra Bullock. Would he have to change his game as a result?

The women

Cyndi Lauper – Probably one of the wackier contestants that the show has ever had, but she, like Meat Loaf, was brilliant at making ideas work that never sounded so great on paper.

Annie Duke – Easily one of the strongest female players to ever win this game, and really the only reason she lost season 2 was because Trump loves Joan Rivers (even in spite of her not being at every task). Maybe Annie didn’t want

Aubrey O’Day – Is it a little risky to put both Aubrey and Lisa on the same show again? Sure, but they’re both too fantastic to really ignore. Aubrey was crazy-intense, crazy-entertaining, and she always spoke her mind. Always.

Star Jones – Really, we just want to see Star try and manipulate Aubrey. Really, we would be content with just locking these two in a room and filming an entire show about them just for the entertainment value.

Lisa Lampanelli – From NeNe Leakes to Holly Robinson Peete to even Carol Alt, there are all sorts of great women who have been on this that deserve a spot. We’re going with Lisa though since she’s hilarious, and we still really don’t understand how neither she nor Aubrey made the finale over Arsenio.

Who are some of your biggest snubs from this season?