Murtz On The Scene: Exclusive Interview With The Celebrity Apprentice‘s Shawn Johnson

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On Monday’s episode of The Celebrity Apprentice, the teams were asked to create a mobile boutique in support of Ivanka Trump Shoes and Nordstrom’s with a specific focus on appealing to millennial women. When Shawn Johnson declined the opportunity to lead Team Vortex by assuming the project manager position for the first time, Vivica Fox stepped in instead. While the team’s brainstorming session initially resulted in the team deciding to transform their boutique into a Nordstrom’s Lite, Vivica flipped the script after sending Shawn and Kate to purchase supplies. On the advice of Geraldo Rivera (who else?), Vivica was led to believe that turning the boutique into a coffee house (where customers could sip cappuccinos while checking out the shoes) was a better idea than the one the team first agreed upon. Shawn vehemently disagreed but didn’t really have a choice but to support Vivica’s decision. In the end, Mr. Trump decided that Shawn had to go because he was unimpressed by her unwillingness to assume project manager responsibilities. Earlier this week, I caught up with Shawn to discuss what happened.

Murtz Jaffer: Hi Shawn, it’s Murtz.

Shawn Johnson: Hi Murtz. I am supposed to tell you that I am sitting right here next to one of my best friends, Mallory Ervin [from The Amazing Race All-Stars] and she says hello.

MJ: Oh! Mallory Ervin! Yes. You know Shawn, I have never actually met her. We both do so many reality events, but she always goes to the ones that she doesn’t go to and she goes to the ones that I don’t go to. We are always on opposite schedules!

SJ: Yeah, that’s what she was saying too!

MJ: So okay are you ready to get started are you ready for the greatest interview of your life?

SJ: I cannot wait, yes.

MJ: Vivica seemed to give you a lot of flack for not stepping up as the project manager, but I could see that it was a strategy as you wanted to lay low and fly under the radar which usually is the best way to get to the end. When you found out you were going on the show, was your plan to try and go as long as you could without becoming the PM?

SJ: Yes it was. That was my first original plan. Then, as it went on, it was kind of just waiting for the right opportunity. I really wanted to be the PM but it was kind of like the longer that I stayed on, the more I realized that a couple of people I mean their life’s agenda was to get me off the show. I mean I will say my strategy then was to lay low so I didn’t get cut. And so I was trying to weigh the risk of becoming project manager and have those people sabotage it or do I just work really hard under a PM and try to earn my worth to stay. As soon as I saw Vivica become the PM, I was like ‘well, I am screwed.’

MJ: You seemed to really butt heads with Vivica and this started after she kind of broke girl code and talked about it being your time of the month in front of Mr. Trump. Was your relationship with completely destroyed after that?

Shawn: Again I am never the kind (especially coming from the world of elite competition), I have never ever taken anything personally. I have learned from a young age that it doesn’t matter what people say and I don’t really get offended. I am just a person of respect. I really wanted to be respected and when she did that, I was just ‘well, that was a really disrespectful thing for you to do.’ I am not hurt personally but (like I said on the show) it was just trashy. I don’t know what it was, but from day one I think she must have thought that I was just an easy win. That she thought that she could just chew me off within the first day or two and I think because I became a challenging person for her to get fired. I just got under her skin and it was her life’s mission to get me out and she succeeded… but not without a fight.

MJ: Even with that said, Vivica said that Kate should be fired and not you. She did also say that the others girls seemed to influence you, which you vehemently denied. What was she referring to?

SJ: I honesty have no idea. I think when she said that it was more a case of her just fighting with people I agreed with instead of siding with her. She knew that I would openly take other people sides against her because I didn’t agree with her a lot of her opinions and it wasn’t a personal thing. It was just that that was how I felt and that everyone knew that I was going to voice it. It was kind of like the first week. I didn’t necessarily throw my team under the bus but I said ‘you know what? If I am seeing the facts correctly, no I don’t think we won.’ I am just… again, I am just one of the people that if it is something that I don’t believe in, I am not going to follow it. It was a statement she made that she felt that she could sway Mr. Trump with and she would say anything to get me off.

MJ: Not too long ago, I had a dance lesson with your former partner from Dancing With The Stars, Mark Ballas. When you won Dancing With The Stars, you seemed very motivated to win the athletic competition whereas The Apprentice is a different type of show. Is one harder than the other?

SJ: I would agree with that. I would say that this difference is just kind of the enjoyment factor. I come from the athletic world where if you are devious or vindictive or catty you get disqualified, so trying to learn about that Apprentice world and be a part of it was really kind of emotionally hard for me. I thought that if I just laid low and worked as hard as I could like I did in the athletic world… I just mean in athletics you get paid off for having that kind of work ethic and it is a good thing. Instead, in the Apprentice world, if you work really hard and stay quiet, you get fired. It wasn’t a defeated mentality, but a confusion as to where I could even succeed because I wasn’t willing to go to that vindictive level. I wanted to withhold my dignity and character but I think it did kind of strip me of my joy a little bit.

MJ: On last night’s episode, when you found out that Geraldo and Vivica had changed the initial Nordstrom’s idea and decided to make the mobile boutique into more of a coffee shop, you said that you felt like you were on a sinking ship and at the fabric store you said that you didn’t want your name attached to it. Do you in a way feel justified that you were right as it seemed that was why your team lost?

SJ: For sure. I mean from the get go of that project, my biggest concern and I think the most important factor of the whole thing was holding Ivanka’s brand to the highest level and doing it justice. I think by cheating it and doing cheaper versions of what we had planned on (like the coffee shop), we weren’t doing the brand justice and we weren’t fulfilling the project.

And so, it is just one of those frustrating moments where had I been project manager, yeah I could have overwritten it, but because I was that 22 year-old girl that people didn’t want to listen to, they just shoot me off like I didn’t know what I was talking about. When we got into the boardroom though and they acknowledged that it was the best idea, I was very satisfied. I was kind of pissed off at myself a little bit because I should have had a bigger voice.

MJ: Ian and Geraldo were the big fundraisers this season and last week when I talked to Jamie, she said that she didn’t have the kind of financial backing that they did. Do you think that in that regard the Olympians were at a bit of a disadvantage since most of the tasks involve fundraising?

SJ: You can say we were a little bit of a disadvantage. I mean we don’t have the years of age to have made as many connections as the others either. I think the other part of it Mr. Trump had actually identified that in the boardroom he doesn’t expect everybody to bring in the same amount. He doesn’t expect us to all be on the same level. If it’s Jamie Anderson against Geraldo Rivera, he is not expecting her to bring in the same number but you have to bring in the equivalent of your level and he does want you to bring in what you can but it can be a disadvantage when you get towards the end and it’s strictly just a money-driven project.

MJ: Before the guys left the boardroom, Trump asked Geraldo who he thought was a stronger player between you, Kate, and Vivica. Did he ask everyone or did he value Geraldo’s opinion the most?

SJ: It was kind of… I don’t think he values Geraldo’s opinion more so than everybody else. I think he does respect Geraldo very much. He has been great friends with him for many many years but it was kind of a hit or miss. He would ask people for their opinions to see if they would give their honest opinions or just kind of a suck up opinion. He knew Geraldo would just lay it straight

MJ: I know you have written a couple of books Shawn. Is that something you will continue doing and what’s next for you?

SJ: I am! I love it and I love being able to reach kids that way!

MJ: Can you tell me more about your charity, Character Counts?

SJ: Yeah! Character Counts is a program that is implemented into elementary schools, middle schools and high schools, and it teaches kids the six pillars of character. It’s kind of like, responsibility, respect, trustworthiness and that kind of thing but it has grown so much now that it’s even being put into corporations, adult businesses, and levels of everyday life I guess. It teaches kids how to work on daily basis and be truly just good people. On The Apprentice, that is why it was so important for me not to go into a level of I don’t know cattiness, because I was playing for those little kids that looked up to me.

MJ: And finally who are rooting for to win?

SJ: I love Leeza Gibbons. I think she is a brilliant businesswoman and I think she should take it home.

MJ: Well Shawn, thank you so much I would like to get you on The Murtz Show sometime.

SJ: Sounds good I would love to be on it

MJ: Awesome thank you so much and have a great day.

SJ: Thanks you too.

The Celebrity Apprentice continues Monday at 8 p.m. on NBC

Murtz Jaffer is the world's foremost reality television expert and was the host of Reality Obsessed which aired on the TVTropolis and Global Reality Channels in Canada. He has professional writing experience at the Toronto Sun, National Post, TV Guide Canada, TOROMagazine.com and was a former producer at Entertainment Tonight Canada. He was also the editor at Weekendtrips.com.