14 February 2017
Newsdesk
Boy George finished in second place on reality TV show The New Celebrity Apprentice on Monday night (13Feb17).
The Culture Club star went head to head with American Ninja Warrior host Matt Iseman for the final of the show, which tests contestants' business and entrepreneurial skills. The finalists had to create an ad campaign, host a party and produce a variety show to raise money for their chosen charities.
For the latter task Boy George recruited Caitlyn Jenner as a special guest, and she brought a cheque for $90,000 (£72,000), while TV personality Carson Kressley opened the variety show, Natasha Bedingfield sang Pocketful of Sunshine, and Boy George performed a song before grabbing Natasha for a duet of Culture Club classic Karma Chameleon.
His competition Matt managed to book girl group Wilson Phillips, who performed their 1990 smash hit Hold On.
It was revealed later in the boardroom Boy George had raised just under $446,000 (£357,000) for his charity, Safe Kids Worldwide, while Matt had managed to raise around $573,000 (£460,000) for The Arthritis Foundation, so host Arnold Schwarzenegger, who took over from former host and now U.S. President Donald Trump, chose Matt as the winner.
"I’m really proud of both of you,’ Arnold said, adding that Boy George "came in as the big star" who had to "look deep inside yourself" to make a comeback after he struggled mid-competition, but Matt was the "underdog" who blew everyone away with his perseverance.
Proving he had no hard feelings, Boy George wrote on Twitter, "Well done @mattiseman I love u. Well done!... @ApprenticeNBC @safekids It was amazing to raise so much money for charity. I told @mattiseman I would be happy for him to win and I am!"
Arnold also congratulated both finalists for "working their a*sses off" and added, "It was truly an honor to get to know both of you better and see you fight for your charities @mattiseman @BoyGeorge."
Boy George replied: "Thank you! It was great fun and an honour to do the show with you as our boss!!"
Arnold had previously got into a dispute with Trump after the President said the current show's ratings weren't as good as when he was the host.
