Carson Kressley knows reality TV. Getting an early start as the fashion savant for Queer Eye for the Straight Guy in 2003, Kressley built his brand as the go-to-guy for fashion advice. The former stylist for Ralph Lauren has competed on Dancing with the Stars and is a recurring guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race.
This season Carson meets The Terminator as Arnold Schwarzenegger replaces Donald Trump on this season's The New Celebrity Apprentice. Celebrities compete for cash prizes for their designated charities. Carson, a board member of The True Colors Fund, is competing on behalf of the charity that provides support for homeless youth.
"I've been involved with the charity for about eight years with Cyndi Lauper. We work to get homeless LGBTQ youth off the streets and into safe homes. Unfortunately, LGBTQ kids make up 40% of our homeless youth population, which is disproportionate to the number of kids out there," said Carson.
Each week one of the celebrities are picked to be a project manager for a team. Prize money goes to the project manager's charity. "So far I've won one of my challenges and donated $25,000 to The True Colors Fund," said Carson. "I'm also working with Carnival Cruise Lines, and if I have the most votes on their website, I could win an additional $25,000 for the charity."
Known as a TV personality, Carson owes some of his success on the show to jobs earlier in his career. "I know how to put together a marketing campaign, a photo shoot, or throw an event, so I guess I was a little more prepared than I thought."
Of all the episodes, Carson found the Harry Potter challenge to be the most difficult for him. He felt his closest competitors were Boy George and Matt Iseman. "Arnold wanted us to be more adventurous, and I felt that Boy George, Matt Iseman and I did that." When asked if there were any behind the scene cat fights, Carson responded that most of them were in front of the camera. "There were fights on screen between Lisa Leslie and Porsha Williams, throwing each other under the bus. The guys never really did that."
As far as life after Apprentice, Carson has a new book called "Does this Book Make My Butt Look Big," and will be returning as a guest judge for Season 9 of RuPaul's Drag Race.
The winner of The New Celebrity Apprentice will win $250,000 for their charity. The finale will air February 13, 2017.
