Mob boss widow Victoria Gotti, singer Clay Aiken and IndyCar champ Michael Andretti are on tap for the next edition of NBC’s “Celebrity Apprentice.”

Host Donald Trump announced the new batch of contenders on Wednesday’s “Today” show. They also include “Real Housewives of New Jersey” cast member Teresa Guidice, comedian Lisa Lampanelli, former Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza, rock star Dee Snider and “America Chopper” star Paul Teutul Sr.

Other contenders include radio host Adam Carolla, comedian Arsenio Hall, singer-actress Aubrey O’Day and magician Penn Jillette.

Rounding out the rivals are model Cheryl Tiegs, singer Debbie Gibson, “Star Trek” star George Takei, singer Tia Carrere, actress-model Patricia Velasquez and “Incredible Hulk” Lou Ferrigno.

“Celebrity Apprentice” returns for its new season Feb. 12.

A judge in Rhode Island has denied reality TV star Richard Hatch’s bail request pending an appeal of a nine-month prison sentence for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the first season of the hit show “Survivor.”

Hatch, who is being held in Brooklyn, N.Y., spent over three years in prison for tax evasion. Released in 2009, he was ordered to refile his 2000 and 2001 taxes and pay what he owed. A judge in March ruled he never did and returned him to prison.

Hatch’s lawyer was not immediately available for comment Thursday. He has said there are questions about whether Hatch violated his release terms. Prosecutors said those questions aren’t substantial enough to warrant bail.

The bail denial was filed Thursday in federal court in Providence.

Al B. Sure! tells Omarosa how he feels about her, night and day (How he feels about her, Ooh, ooh!)

Every reality show cast features those instantly loveable characters you notice and remember from the very first episode, the ones that you remember, but for the wrong reasons, and the ones that are so forgettable that they show up on the reunion show and make you go “Who is that? Were they even on this show?”

Darrell, a slightly awkward movie producer and former stand-up comedian, certainly stood out on the premiere of TVOne’s weirdly intriguing “Donald J. Trump Presents: The Ultimate Merger,” where The Donald prepares a “dossier” of 12 suitors for “Apprentice” alum Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth. And as the first man booted as a potential suitor by original reality villianess Omarosa, Darrell made an impression on the bachelorette, his competition and, likely, the viewer. I’m just not sure he’d be happy about it.

“We all felt really bad for the guy. We didn’t think he was all there,” says Eddy “Rawsrvnt” Puyol, a Palm Beach Gardens resident, Christian rapper and one of the dudes left standing after Omarosa’s novel dismissal of Darrell. Instead of snuffing his torch or yelling that he was fired, she ran the pre-nup he’d signed through the paper shredder. Ouch.

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The corruption trial of Rod Blagojevich began Thursday, 18 months after authorities arrested him at home at dawn one day and accused him of trying to sell the Senate seat that President Barack Obama had vacated for the White House.

A smiling and relaxed-looking Blagojevich had arrived at federal court with his wife, Patti, and stepped into a gantlet of about 30 waiting cameras and reporters. He hugged supporters and thanked them on his way into the courthouse. That included a group of women with signs, including May Farley, 78, of Elmhurst, who held a placard saying, “Rod’s not cuckoo. Rod’s not guilty.”

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DON’T WANNA KNOW? DON’T READ ANY FURTHER. BECAUSE THERE’S SPOILERS DOWN HERE.

Bret Michaels, he of the headband, the “Rock of Love,” the love of fame-seeking skanks and the “Unskinny Bop,” was named Celebrity Apprentice last night due to a winning combination of creative genius, incredible dedication, an emotional connection to his charity (diabetes research) and, of course, his brush with death after a brain hemorrhage. Even competitor Holly Robinson Peete, who teared up as Bret carefully and slowly hugged his way across the stage, said that her 5-year-old was pulling for him.

You can’t argue with that.
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Bret Michaels is receiving outpatient care after being hospitalized for what doctors called a “warning stroke.”

His publicist, Joann Mignano, gave no other details Friday in an e-mail to The Associated Press.

Mignano had earlier confirmed that Michaels suffered what doctors call a “warning stroke” and has been diagnosed with a patent forum ovale, or hole in the heart.

The 47-year-old rocker-TV reality star was hospitalized after experiencing numbness on the left side of his body, particularly in his face and hands.

Doctors said the condition is operable and treatable and likely unrelated to the brain hemorrhage he suffered last month.

Rock star Bret Michaels will get to play the final round of “The Celebrity Apprentice.”

The Poison frontman passed muster with host Donald Trump on Sunday’s edition and he’ll be back for next week’s live conclusion. Michaels will square off against actress Holly Robinson Peete to settle who wins the NBC reality competition.

Fired Sunday were wrestler-model Maria Kanellis, Australian chef Curtis Stone, and rock-star wife and TV personality Sharon Osbourne.

“I came in here as a complete underdog,” Michaels crowed after hearing the good news in Trump’s boardroom. “You know what everyone’s mistake was? They so underestimated me!”
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Poison frontman Bret Michaels thought a burglar shot him in the back of the head when he suffered a brain hemorrhage last month that left him in intensive care for nearly two weeks.

The outspoken 47-year-old contestant on NBC’s “The Celebrity Apprentice” told People magazine that the subarachnoid hemorrhage “sounded like a handgun, like it literally popped.”

“It made my mind go almost blank,” he said. “My neck tensed up. I couldn’t move my head at all.”

Michaels said after he experienced the sensation, he began pacing his living room then asked his girlfriend, Kristi Gibson, to take him to the emergency room.

“I knew I was slurring my words, and I was like ‘OK, this isn’t a headache. There’s something really bad happening,’” he said.
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Poison frontman Bret Michaels has been released from a Phoenix hospital and is expected to make a full recovery after suffering a brain hemorrhage last month.

The lead doctor treating Michaels said Tuesday that he recommends Michaels wait at least four to six weeks before resuming normal activity.

Dr. Joseph Zabramski of the Barrow Neurological Institute wouldn’t say when Michaels was released or whether he was sent home or to a rehabilitation facility. Zabramski says the 47-year-old contestant on “The Celebrity Apprentice” is receiving therapy.

Two tests showed that Michaels did not suffer an aneurysm, so doctors are unsure what caused the bleeding.