Omarosa has been on reality TV for 20 years. The secret to her success? ‘I just happen to be really, really interesting.'
In 2004, Jet magazine dubbed her the "woman America loved to hate" when she made her mark on pop culture as a ferocious contestant on the first season of The Apprentice, the Donald Trump-hosted reality show. Since then, she's appeared on other unscripted television series like Celebrity Big Brother, Fear Factor and House of Villains, showcasing her signature fearlessness. She even did a brief stint as an aide in the 2016 Trump administration.
She's now part of the cast of Got to Get Out, a Hulu reality competition series that pits 20 people against each other in a mansion to compete to earn $1 million. Over the course of 10 days, the grand prize inches higher, and contestants have the chance to try to break out of the house with part of the money or stay and split the grand prize. There are 10 reality stars from shows like The Bachelor and The Hills, and 10 TV newcomers in the cast.
Omarosa told Yahoo Entertainment that in honor of her second decade of reality TV stardom, she asked her agent to find her something 'big' and 'unique.'
'He kept pitching me some weird, whack shows. I was like, 'I'm not doing that,'' she said. 'I want to do something people will talk about.'
She was looking for something like Fear Factor, on which she appeared on toward the beginning of her career.
'There were like, snakes and bugs and airplanes and race cars,' she said. 'I wanted something like that. This is crazier than that.'
It didn't hurt that there was $1 million at stake, along with a massive mansion and an 'incredible cast.'
On set, Omarosa found that her reputation put her at a disadvantage.
'You needed people to trust you, and you know — I wouldn't trust me!' she said. 'I had to find creative ways to get into the action — to get clues and build rapport. At the end of the day, I just had to outwork people. I was around corners and closets. I was eavesdropping. I was reading lips. You name it … I had to do it.'
She wasn't afraid to take her gameplay to the extreme, either.
'I always want to make sure that my fans get what they tune in for,' Omarosa said. 'I have to tell you — I skirted the lines on this. Some of the rules and some of the things [I did] pushed the limits. I hurt a couple of people's feelings.'
'Please forgive me, but I played a good game. I'm proud of the game I played,' she added.
In the first episode, one of the contestants gets caught trying to trick the rest of his housemates. Omarosa responded with an equally vicious and hilarious quip.
'Don't believe anything anybody says in this house, they're all freaking psycho liars,' she said on-screen, referencing the scheming contestant. 'He looks like the biggest weasel.'
Omarosa told Yahoo Entertainment that the key to dishing out soundbites like that is that 'you have to be your authentic self.'
'I just happen to be really, really interesting,' she laughed. 'No, seriously! In all seriousness, I love reality TV, and I'm really grateful for all the people who've gone on this journey with me for the last 20 years.'
Season 1 of is now streaming on Hulu.
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