Browse By Show: 

Reality TV Scoop

Stefani Schaeffer
News

Stefani Schaeffer Speaks on Being Named The Apprentice

She may not be posing nude, like former fellow contestant Kristine Lefebvre, but Stefani Schaeffer is still making news these days. After all, she was just named the most recent winner of The Apprentice.

Here's an excerpt of her interview with TV Guide:

TVGuide.com: Congratulations! Were you nervous?
Stefani Schaeffer: No, actually, I wasn't. It didn't [occur to] me to be nervous. I'm fine with that kind of situation. Audiences don't really disturb me.

TVGuide.com: Did you ever imagine you'd be signing up for a season with so many changes?
Stefani: No, I had no idea that tents would be involved or that we'd be living outside. My idea of The Apprentice is living in this beautiful Trump penthouse suite at Trump Towers, doing some business tasks and going up against some vicious people for a while â€" that was my impression from the show.

TVGuide.com: I know a lot of fans were disappointed with the changes this season. Did you hear that at all from people?
Stefani: I did hear that from people. I got a mixed reaction. Some people liked the tents, because they just thought it was funny to watch people suffer, and some people just thought that it was demeaning and didn't belong in the show. So there was a mixed opinion, but with any show, I think you'll find that with any change anyone makes.

Thumbs Up! TVGuide.com: Were you disappointed, as viewers were, that the final task was… the final task?
Stefani: I wasn't disappointed in the Renuzit task, but in so far as it being the final task, I was disappointed that it wasn't at least a gigantic charity event or something for a good cause â€" I thought that that would be a good way to finish the show. If I could change anything, I would make that recommendation. It was a great task, it was. It was very challenging, it may not have seemed it in the final 60 seconds that you saw as an audience member, but it was a lot of work put into a very, very short amount of time, and it was a lot of moving parts.

TVGuide.com: What would you suggest to breathe some new life into the show?
Stefani: You know, I'm not sure. I think the show has a good format. I like the show as it is. I don't know that I would keep the tents….

TVGuide.com: Would you keep it in L.A.?
Stefani: L.A. was really interesting, and if the tasks are challenging enough, it really doesn't matter where the show is. The show being in New York added a heightened sense of, I don't know, anxiety, feeling like you're in a rush â€" I think that was conducive to it being an experience. But L.A. was good, too. We're so spread out in L.A., the stress is there, it's just different â€" it's with traffic, it's with limitations of when businesses are open and that kind of stuff, so I think both locations have their advantages.

TVGuide.com: Do you feel the show took advantage of the L.A. setting as much as you'd expected?
Stefani: I don't know. In retrospect, we did do two different types of commercials and we did do things, like the tour-bus task, that were Hollywood-esque, if you will. We probably could have done a little bit more.

TVGuide.com: Was staying under the radar a "genius strategy" you planned?
Stefani
: My strategy was to stay out of the firing line, and that meant doing a good job and making sure I had the respect of my teammates, and it was effective. It made me end up in the finals and I did it without ever ending up in a boardroom. No project manager ever brought me before Mr. Trump to try to get me fired, no teammate ever said anything negative about me, so I think it was a great strategy and I don't think I was under the radar at all. The audience sees a very tiny portion of the footage, and I can tell you that I was as active throughout the beginning of the show as I was shown to be by the end of the show, so you can't actually fly under the radar in a situation like this.

With teammates who are all looking out to be No. 1 and be the winner, don't you think someone would say something to try to get you fired if you weren't pulling your weight plus more?

TVGuide.com: Definitely. And with your crew, you had very loud, boisterous people alongside you.
Stefani: We did. They were very loud. We had Chicago and New York adequately represented and quite a voice from Seattle as well.

Continue Reading...

Stefani Schaeffer Named Winner of The Apprentice

Before The Apprentice can return next season - as creator Mark Burnett promises it will - the show had to name a winner for this year's edition in Los Angeles. On the season finale recap!

The show aired live from the Hollywood Bowl. And, of course, Donald Trump entered to fireworks, along with a cheering crowd. After a recap of the season to date, Trump called out the four remaining candidates: Frank, James, Nicole, and Stefani.

The commercials that the candidates created for Renuzit for the final task were shown once more. The Donald them asked some of the eliminated contestants who they would pick. Tim went with Nicole and pointed out that she stepped up to be project manager early in the process. Aaron endorsed James because of his technology background.

Stefani Schaeffer Trump revealed that the two job choices for the apprentice would be overseeing a luxury resort construction project in the Caribbean or overseeing the construction of Trump Towers Atlanta. When he asked each candidate which job they would select, Stefani chose the Caribbean, James chose Atlanta, Nicole chose the Caribbean and Frank chose Atlanta.

Ivanka Trump told Frank and Nicole that she wasn't impressed with their commercial. Don Trump, Jr. said he felt theye made a weak decision in who they picked to help them on the final task.

The Donald them stepped up and told Frank: "You hired Surya, who didn't like you. He wanted nothing to do with you. I disagreed with that choice very, very strongly. Not because of him, he's fine, but because you didn't get along. Your mini-movie wasn't good, you almost got fired in the first week, but I do love your drive. I love lots of things about you, but there are certain liabilities. Frank, you're fired."

From there, it was on to Nicole: "I'm a believer in romance, but I'm not a believer in inter-office romance. You love Tim, you like Tim, I think that's wonderful, but you know what, I want you to love me more, it's important because I've got to be the boss. I didn't like your mini-movie, it didn't have it. Nicole, you're fired."

During the last boardroom, Stefani insisted that she was the glue that held their team together, while James insisted he was a leader and Stefani was merely behind the scenes. Heidi and Kristine both endorsed Stefani. Frank complimented both James and Stefani and told Trump he was on his own.

Trump told Stefani that he was a little concerned about her going under the radar. However, he said to James: "James, you're terrific in every respect. You're totally creative, I love creative people, but there were certain things and certain dialogue that you gave during the course and you know what I'm talking about, that bothered me very much.

You're an outstanding guy. I really think you're going to be a big success, but for now, James, you're fired. Stefani, you're hired."

And that was that. Congrats to Stefani Schaeffer.

  • Login Box

  • Featured Album

  • Featured Picture

    The Bachelorette: Jillian Harris