Saturday, May 9, 2009

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Duke eyes Celebrity Apprentice prize

'I think I did the better job'

By Sarah Polson

Much of the hype surrounding NBC's Celebrity Apprentice this season has been about the bad blood between Joan Rivers and Annie Duke.

Now the two will go head-to-head in the live final Sunday, and if previous episodes are any indication, sparks are going to fly.

Rivers has made no effort to hide her dislike of Duke throughout the season. In fact, she's attacked her on a personal level, equating Duke to Hitler and calling her, and poker players in general, white trash.

Duke said she's keeping that in mind heading into the final boardroom.

"I don't have so much a strategy for the boardroom this time," Duke told PokerListings.com. "I just have things that I'm thinking about ahead of time.

"I'm thinking about what kind of questions Trump will ask and what Joan will say is the reason why she should be the final apprentice instead of me."

Duke said Rivers approaches the boardroom in a much different way than she does, using personal attacks to make her arguments rather than keeping things professional.

"I'm thinking about the attacks she's already laid against me and how I can defend myself against that," Duke said.

Rivers has continued those attacks on Duke in the media leading up to the final.

During an appearance on the Today Show, Rivers called Duke a piece of garbage and said she couldn't be trusted because she plays people like she plays poker. She's also Twittered about her Celebrity Apprentice experience, continuing to trash Duke.

Rivered again.

Meanwhile, Duke has done the rounds, defending herself from Rivers during interviews about the show.

She made an appearance on the TV Guide Channel's TV Water Cooler and is appearing on Access Hollywood today [Friday].

It appears not liking Duke also may be the only argument Rivers has left for the final boardroom.

Duke has raised the most money on the show this season, helping set records for the most cash raised during a fundraising challenge and during a season of the show altogether.

Plus she was on the winning team the majority of the time, leading her team to victory twice.

In contrast, Rivers won only one of the two tasks she led and hasn't raised nearly as much money.

But that doesn't mean Duke was surprised to see her rival in the final two along with her.

Rivers may not have always been the strongest player, but Duke said she always made for good TV.

Good TV or not, Rivers will still have to find a way to defeat Duke in the final task and answer for her past performances when they enter the boardroom again this week.

"The final boardroom is not just about the final task, but overall performance in the game," Duke said. "On merit alone, I think I did the better job."

The final task and the live final boardroom will air in a three-hour episode Sunday, May 10 at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.

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