'Celeb Apprentice' Hamilton Says He's Competitive

John Gerome - Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - Once a competitor, always a competitor.

Or so it seems for Olympic gold medal figure skater Scott Hamilton, who says he was afraid his competitive nature would get the best of him while taping the new season of NBC television's "The Celebrity Apprentice" hosted by real estate mogul Donald Trump.

"I saw what happened the year before with a lot of people getting so caught up physically and mentally," Hamilton said recently from his Nashville home. "My biggest fear was that I'd somehow get caught up in the game and misrepresent myself, my faith and my family."

The reality series, which premieres Sunday, pits 16 celebrities against each other as they do business tasks to raise money for a charity of their choice. Hamilton chose the Cleveland Clinic. Trump "fires" at least one contestant each week who is dropped from the show after performing poorly in the task.

Contestants also include former pro basketball bad boy Dennis Rodman, country music's Clint Black, TV personalities Khloe Kardashian and Joan Rivers, former pro football star Herschel Walker, and comics Andrew Dice Clay and Tom Green.

Hamilton, 50, said it's hard not to get overly competitive.

"What they're asking these celebrities to do is next to impossible," he said. "You've got 24 hours to come up with something that would normally take a professional agency months and millions of dollars to do."

The show was taped in the fall.

Hamilton said he couldn't discuss details of the taping.

"Everybody asks, 'What's your strategy?'" he said. "The only strategy I have is to win every task."

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