Bret Michaels Takes Celebrity Apprentice Title

When we left the Celebrity Apprentice last week Holly Robinson Peete and Bret Michaels were named the finalists and they were well into their final tasks, building a campaign from the ground up for an original Snapple iced tea drink. After Bret wasted time trying to track down a dolly track, he eventually rigged up his own contraption to get the footage he wanted. Bret suffered another setback when he lost his script, which caused him to back off his original plan of having two commercials. Ironically Bret never used the footage he used so much of his time trying to get.

Both contestants would have to make a presentation to a room full of Snapple executives, but before those took place the show took a time to tug at the heartstrings and surprised Bret by bringing in his daughter, Raine. It was easy to see why he is so passionate about his charity, the American diabetes Association. Bret's daughter is a borderline diabetic and Bret himself has suffered from the disease since he was six.

After the presentations the Snapple executives told Donald Trump that they felt the task was a draw. All this allowed Donald Trump to make an emotional decision and hire Bret Michaels as the Celebrity Apprentice.

If you have been tucked away in a cave recently here is a quick rundown of what Michaels has been through since taping stopped on the show. He had an appendectomy. A few weeks later he suffered a serious brain hemorrhage. Then just this week he suffered what is called a warning stroke and also discovered that he has a hole in his heart. Despite all these trial Michaels did make it to the live finale this evening. Michaels walked with a noticeable limp and looked like he has lost a quite a bit of weight, but still had his usual positive attitude.

Before Trump made his decision he announced that the people at Snapple had agreed to match the prize of $250,000 and that both charities would receive that amount. So even though Robinson Peete lost, in the long run her HollyRod Foundation for autism still made the most money overall.

This year's finale is a stark contrast to last year's bitter feud between Joan Rivers and Annie Duke. This season both finalists had nothing but praise for each other. Without the sympathy vote for Michaels, Robinson Peete probably would have take the title home, but in the end it was probably the best way this season of the Celebrity Apprentice could end.