TU: Are you enjoying watching this show?
NG: [laughs] It’s fascinating to see the editing. Since I do this for a living it’s interesting to see how other people do it.
TU: So tell me some things from this season that were manipulated by editing.
NG: I wouldn’t say so many specific things were edited, but when you’re watching it, it seems like a broad stroke version of what really happened. If you work on something for 14 hours, and you’re only seeing five minutes on TV, you miss a lot of the nuances of what actually happens on the tasks. But I also understand that they’re telling a story, so when they’re telling a story of certain characters, part of other people’s work gets cut out. I actually think they did a pretty great job, to be honest with you. Was everything exactly the way it happened? It never is. But they did a good job of giving you a broad strokes version of it.
TU: Yeah, I remember thinking that we’d go for 36 straight hours on a task, and then when you account for the boardroom, the commercials, the reward, and the task announcement, it ended up being about 15 minutes of TV. And that’s to cover two teams– so a team working for 36 hours would get seven or eight minutes of airtime.
NG: And the boardrooms, I don’t know if it was the same on your season, but ours were about three hours a pop. Do you feel that you were fairly edited on your season?
TU: Yeah, I do. I think it was pretty accurate. You know, there was one episode when our team won, but they made me the red herring so that it looked like if we lost I would be fired, and I was angry because it was bullshit and I had done a good job. And another episode where I messed up, but the editing saved me. It all seems to even out.
NG: Yeah, that’s how I feel. You know the episode where they said Gene Simmons took a bullet for me? In fact, I didn’t do anything wrong in that episode. And the episode where I produced the commercial, they probably should have fired me, and they didn’t.
TU: You seemed pretty frustrated in that last boardroom, that Trump seemed to have it out for you. Why do you think that was?
NG: Well, when you’re there, you kind of go a little psychotic because you haven’t eaten and you haven’t slept. So you take everything really seriously and really personally. And later, when you leave, you realize that it’s a show, and I’m the least famous person, and he wanted me off.
TU: That’s exactly what I think it was. He’s firing people based on ratings.
NG: Right, on constituencies. On who’s got a bigger constituency. Because there was no reason for him to fire me in that episode whatsoever. And when I see him later, he’s like, “Isn’t that great?” Of course, because he’s thinking of me as a producer, and he’s thinking, “This chick can take it, she’s a producer. She’s not gonna be offended if I fire her.” But yeah, when I was living it, I was very frustrated, because I thought, “Why is he picking on me?” And this is the beauty of the show. He actually made me more famous by doing that– now all these people are emailing me like, “You stood up to Donald Trump.” It cracks me up.
TU: Who did you become friends with from your cast? Who are you rooting for now?
NG: My friends were really Omarosa, Marilu, Nadia on the girls side, and on the guys’ side, I got along really well with Stephen Baldwin, and Piers, Tito, Lennox, and Trace– I really liked all the guys, too. But on the girls team it was really Marilu, Omarosa and me. Everyone thinks Omarosa is a bitch, but, you know–
TU: Okay, let’s stop there for a second. You saw the episode where she and Piers fought the whole time– I think she came across really terribly and I’d like to hear a defense of her. Tell me why I shouldn’t think she’s such a terrible, terrible person who would swing that low below the belt.
NG: I mean, look– she’s actually a very smart girl, and she’s not that bad, but she decided to take on that role of the villainess, and I think she might take it to the extreme. But all I can say is, she’s pretending to be evil, and other people on the show really are!
TU: So who? Tell me who’s evil.
NG: Well, you’ve watched the show, you can’t figure it out?
TU: Well I want to hear what you think.
NG: I think other people are more ruthless and cutthroat. I mean, I think Piers is ruthless and cutthroat, and I think he would be thrilled to hear that. He’s a real business person. That’s why I thought that episode was really interesting– because she came across like the real mean one, because in fact she did hit below the belt. She doesn’t have kids, she doesn’t realized that you can never mention people’s kids to them, but in fact, he’s way more tough, ruthless, and cutthroat than she is. And you don’t see how much Donald Trump bates her. Did you see in the episode I got fired, that he said to Omarosa, “You better step up.” When he says “step up,” it’s not just “step up and do good work,” it’s “step up and kick butt and yell at people.”
TU: Speaking of that episode, do you think that was fair? I didn’t think you were going to get fired– it didn’t really seem like your fault.
NG: Well, when I saw who I was in the boardroom with, I was like, “Well, he’s not gonna fire Omarosa, because she’s great TV, and he’s not gonna fire Marilu because she’s a celebrity, and at that point I knew I was a dead man walking.”
TU: And actually, Omarosa wasn’t even gonna take you in at first, and then he kind of stopped her.
NG: Okay, that’s an area where they really cut it. Omarosa refused to bring me in. And people say to me now, “She threw you under the bus,” and I go, “She really didn’t.” He forced her to bring me in. He really did.
TU: It’s funny, because the show used to have some integrity, but now he’s not even pretending to– he’s just firing people based on ratings. He’s just openly doing that. I mean Gene Simmons just completely, completely messed up that task, and Trump was begging him not to get himself fired. It’s funny to watch. Anyway, I also want to ask you about the Broadway episode. That was a good one for you–
NG: I raised a lot of money on that one– of the $35,000 I raised most of it.
TU: And we could see that watching it. But those people who just missed the deadline at the end– would that have made the difference?
NG: Oh yeah! I had $10,000 coming from each of those two groups. I had $20,000 that showed up three minutes too late.
TU: Is there a $10,000 limit? That seems to keep being the highest number we hear?
NG: Yeah.
TU: I figured. So what’s happening for you now? You were working hard for the Count Me In Foundation.
NG: Yeah, which helps women start up businesses. And I thought it was very apropos, being that I am an entrepreneur and that’s what I really promote, and more women are starting business in America, and that’s a really good thing. And I’m very lucky because the next day I went on The Today Show and I raised $220,000 for that charity. And it all worked out cause I figured, I didn’t want to raise $250,000 because that’s what the winner gets, and I didn’t want to rain on that parade, so I raised $220,000. I really thought it through because I’m a producer [laughs].
TU: Wow. How did you manage to raise that much?
NG: Well, I called a couple of companies that I know, so I called AIG, and I ended up getting $20,000 from Serta, which is the company that didn’t like our task– the Vera Wang Serta Mattress. And I did an e-blast to women entrepreneurs– because I’m on an email list with all these women entrepreneurs– and most of it was $5,000 and $10,000 contributions from women who were successful.
TU: And what’s up for you now?
NG: Well, I’m working on bringing back Celebrity Swan now, and I’ve been working for about a year on a daytime show that will hopefully go on the air sometime next year called The New You, which is for women, and it’s kind of like a health, wellness, and beauty brand for women. And I also bought the rights to a book called Dirty Girl Social Club, which I’m turning into a TV series. So I’m pretty busy, and I kind of love being back to my day job.
TU: Well great talking to you.
NG: You too. Thanks!
Check out Tim’s website, at www.timurban.com, where you can listen to samples of his new album, Turning Home, see pictures, and contact Tim. You can find Tim’s blog at www.timurban.blogspot.com.
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