As we're sure you're aware of by now, The New Celebrity Apprentice airs TONIGHT at 8pm Eastern, 7pm Central time on NBC! To celebrate, we decided to talk with another contestant, the great rocker Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe fame! Enjoy the interview, and you can hear it on the next Arnold Radio News episode!
TAF: We are very much anticipating the "New Celebrity Apprentice” coming up. Let me ask you - did you know Arnold was going to be the new boss, when you signed on for this?
Vince: Yeah, we were all told he was going to be the new boss and everyone was really excited. Especially me!
TAF: Cool. I guess I should ask would you have done it if it were still Donald Trump as the boss?
Vince: Yeah definitely. Trump hadn’t run for President yet. I was always a fan of “Celebrity Apprentice”, even when the version of it on TV was just “The Apprentice.” So I’ve probably seen every episode from day one. So yeah, I definitely of course would have still done it if it were Trump.
TAF: Were you a fan of Arnold before “The Apprentice”? Would you also still consider yourself a fan of his?
Vince: Everybody’s a fan of Arnold!
TAF: Yes, I agree! (laughs)
Vince: (laughs) I mean, yeah. Some of the best movies that you can ever see, that’s an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie, I’m gonna see it. He can kinda do everything. He can play “The Terminator”, the bad guy, he can be really funny, like in “Kindergarden Cop.” He can do anything. He’s just a guy who is fun to watch on screen.
TAF: A lot of good roles and it’s amazing what he has accomplished in life, too. He’s done everything.
Vince: Yeah, absolutely.
TAF: What charity were you competing for and how did you decide on that?
Vince: I was competing for a charity called Keep Memory Alive. I decided to do that charity because a friend of mine who just passed away from, I can’t even remember how to pronounce the brain thing that he had, but he was a guy who was fairly young. Never smoked in his life, never drank in his life, worked out every single day, was in the best shape. He was like 55 years old, and he deteriorated within a few months, then he passed away. There was no cure and this is a charity that is out to find a cute for that disease, as well as other brain diseases.
TAF: That definitely seems worthwhile. I suppose you can't tell [us] how much money you raised, or if you won yet, but I’m sure at the very least it will get some good exposure for this charity, too.
Vince: Yeah, I think everybody on the show raised some money, so I think that everybody, even if they were the first one out, got something for their charity. That’s one great thing about the show.
TAF: Nice! Yeah, that’s very good. From the other contestants on the show with you, were there some that you really bonded with, or some that you maybe clashed with? Can you give a little of what happened there?
Vince: Yeah, I mean, I got along with pretty much everybody. Jon Lovitz I’ve know for a long time, so it was fun to have him around. He’s a funny guy. Made friends with the guy Chael Sonnen, the MMA fighter. Everybody was really cool. We clash a little bit with Boy George, so that should be fun to watch. He’s a different kind of guy. (laughs)
TAF: Are there any other funny or crazy moments you can tease that happened on the show, or maybe behind the scenes that might not even make it on the show?
Vince: I don’t know. I don’t know what will be on the show or not. How do you condense three days into one episode? A lot of stuff goes on. You’re there, you know, I had no idea when I decided to do the show that you’re working six days a week. You’re going to work every day! From 6 in the morning to sometimes 10 at night, six days a week, so it’s a tough one. A lot of stuff to edit out of there, but I thought the cool thing was that, what Trump wouldn’t do - Arnold was there at every task! Trump wasn’t always there at the task all the time, but you look over, and Arnold was standing there, way in the distance. That gets your attention right away!
TAF: Sure. So he’s watching you! (laugh) All the time.
Vince: He was! Like I would say to someone, whatever team I was on, I would say “did you see Arnold?” And they would say “No, where was he?” “Yeah, I saw him way in the distance, staring, watching us, or up in the rafters.” He was like a ghost, kinda walkin’ around. Some people bought it and some people didn’t. So it was a little distracting, like “oh my God, Arnold’s watching!”
TAF: Yeah, his presence can be intimidating. In any of the board room sequences, did he have to do any kind of yelling at you guys?
Vince: Well, yeah. It’s kind of his job, you know. He’s the boss, so he called people out. That’s what the show is about.
TAF: Right - that will be fun to see. Since you recently had your farewell tour with Mötley Crüe, what do you miss most about being with those guys and what can fans look forward to in your music career, or other ventures?
Vince: We finished up New Years Eve, just about a year ago. Within ten days, I was on the first show of my solo tour. I’m someone who likes to be on tour constantly. Taking a little bit of a break with the holidays right now, and actually next week, I start up again. I have over 100 shows booked for next year, so a lot of touring.
TAF: I also saw you have a restaurant, at least one in Las Vegas, that got an award recently.
Vince: Yeah, I have a place in Circus Circus [Hotel] called “Eat, Drink, Party” that was voted Best American Food in Las Vegas [via The Best of Las Vegas 2017 poll]. We were really proud of that - we have a great venue. It’s a fun place to be at.
TAF: What are your Top 3 Arnold movies? Your favorite ones?
Vince: Oh man, that’s really, really a tough one! There’s everything from, ah Jesus, I dunno! “True Lies” I really like a lot. “Kindergarden Cop,” like I was saying before, he just shows a lot of character in that. It’s a great one.
TAF: Right. “It’s not a tumah!”
Vince: And I gotta say the first “Terminator” movie. And the list goes on and on and on.
TAF: Yeah, pretty much all of them, you could argue, are really great. Do you do an Arnold impression or can you do any of his lines?
Vince: Nah, I’m pretty bad. Everybody thinks they got it nailed, but they really don’t. My favorite is “Get to the choppah!”
TAF: Yes, that’s a classic one! “Very nice.” He likes to say that one a lot, too.
Vince: Right. (laughs)
Thanks a lot to Vince Neil for taking the time to talk with us! Be sure to catch him, the other celebrities, and The Boss, Arnold himself on the 2 hour premiere tonight! Then subscribe to Arnold Radio News and hear later this week where we'll discuss it in-depth! and listen to our discussion right now:
