Real Housewives of Atlanta

NBC announced the cast for the fifth season of The Celebrity Apprentice on Wednesday, and Wetpaint Entertainment caught up with cast member and Real Housewife of New Jersey, Teresa Giudice.

Teresa dished about how she chose which charity to play for, how she spent the holidays, and how she was NBC’s first choice among her Real Housewives of New Jersey castmates to appear on Celebrity Apprentice!

Wetpaint Entertainment: Why did you decide to play for NephCure, a foundation that aims to fight kidney disease?

Teresa Giudice: I went to a St. Jude charity event for Eric Trump and I met this little boy named Mathew Levine, and I found out he had this rare kidney disease and he touched my heart. He had just turned 8 and his cholesterol is 365, he takes 15 pills a day. I wanted to do whatever I could to help the foundation.

Is there anyone in the cast you really got along with who you thought you wouldn’t?

Everyone seemed great. I went into it with an open mind, I was happy to meet everyone, like Lou Ferrigno, the Hulk! I remember watching him on TV, it was cool.

We bet Joe [Giudice] loved that!

Yeah, Joe couldn’t wait to meet him.

Which Celebrity Apprentice cast member surprised you the most?

A lot of them. I didn’t know any of them, so just getting to know everyone on a different level was surreal. I didn’t know anybody, but everyone was great, Clay Aiken, Lisa Lampanelli, Aubrey O’Day, Arsenio Hall. I have to say, they were all great.

There were rumors that other cast members from Real Housewives of New Jersey were approached about doing Celebrity Apprentice first. Do you know if there’s any truth to that?

It was not true. NBC made sure to tell me that was false. [They confirmed] that I was the only one that was asked. You should ask NBC that question, I’m sure they’ll confirm it.

For the record, NBC had no comment.

NeNe Leakes, from Real Housewives of Atlanta, dropped out of Celebrity Apprentice last season. Would you ever do something like that?

I wasn’t in her shoes, so I don’t know what happened. I can’t speak for her, I can only speak for myself.

If you were in the final two, which fellow contestant would you want with you?

Aubrey O’Day

How did you, Joe, and the family ring in the New Year?

We went to a restaurant, dinner and dancing, and my daughters had a blast. It’s all about the kids, I couldn’t imagine bringing in the New Year without them, we had a great time. I was with my parents, Joe’s parents, a lot of family.

Did you have a nice Christmas?

Yes, I hosted Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. There was a lot of cooking, cleaning, decorating, wrapping, the whole thing!