From The Archives: Bret Michaels – Celebrity Apprentice0

by Fred Topel

“I hope one day Poison will make another record.”
– Bret Michaels

Reality TV rarely represents anything viewers would recognize as actual reality. The Bachelor uses real people but puts them in a dating pageant that never seems to result in any actual marriages. Survivor drops them on an island where no one’s life is actually at risk, and it’s just a popularity contest in the end.

The Apprentice has one thing going for it. It is a real job with Donald Trump. Trump is a character and there’s the showmanship of the boardroom firings and the weekly challenges, but something about it is real. Celebrity Apprentice is more of the show version. Actors, athletes and rockers don’t need a job, but they play for charity, and so viewers can see a gang of notable eccentrics compete.

Bret Michaels joins the third celebrity version of The Apprentice. Reality TV has brought Michaels a career renaissance. Rock of Love was just another dating show but it put Michaels’ rock n’ roll lifestyle on TV for a new generation to see. Adding to that, video games let kids jam to Poison tracks on their fake guitars. Michaels still records solo, and with artists like Miley Cyrus. Between reality shows, he tours playing international gigs.

Scheduling an interview with a rock star requires the participation of a whole entourage. First an assistant calls to make sure the reporter is there. Then a publicist calls to make sure the reporter is briefed on all of Michaels’ projects. When Michaels himself calls, he is on, projecting an engaging performance even through a phone line.

Read our exclusive interview with Bret Michaels on SuicideGirls.com.