Former White House aide and reality star Omarosa Manigault Newman is opening up about her time working for Donald Trump and her regrets about supporting him. In an interview with ET’s Brice Sander, Omarosa sat down with her co-stars, 90 Day Fiancé star Anfisa Arkhipchenko and Vanderpump Rules alum Jax Taylor to discuss her experience on E!’s new series House of Villains, hosted by Joel McHale.
House of Villains is a unique reality show featuring stars from various reality TV programs, including The Bachelor, MTV’s The Challenge, The Apprentice, Survivor, and The Bad Girls Club. Contestants from these shows are brought together to live under one roof, and the series promises to deliver drama, competition, and unexpected alliances.
“I made my first alliance within the first five minutes in the house,” Omarosa teases. The 10 competitors — the lineup also includes Johnny Bananas, Tiffany “New York” Pollard, Johnny Fairplay, Tanisha Thomas, Bobby Lytes, Shake Chatterjee and Corinne Olympios — are all gunning for a $200K cash prize.
When asked about embracing the term ‘villain,’ Omarosa responded with a quick response, saying, “I trademarked it ’cause I’m a businesswoman. I’m kidding.”
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Anfisa admitted that she didn’t know who Omarosa was when they first started the show but quickly bonded with her. Omarosa remarked, “I didn’t expect it honestly. I go onto these shows, you know, I enjoy the competition, but I don’t expect great relationships, so to come out of it with two friends I think really is the gift I wasn’t expecting.”
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During the interview, Omarosa delved into her time on The Apprentice and her association with Trump. She expressed regret, saying, “For me, I just can’t believe I fell for a con man, a con man who turned out to be the biggest fraud. I mean, literally found by the courts to be a big fraud, so a lot of the backdrop of our show, a lot of The Apprentice that we thought was real was fabricated, and it was just a house of cards. So, I mean, we were duped, and we were young entrepreneurs thinking that we were really gonna learn something from this brilliant businessman. All we learned was not the art of the deal but the art of the con.”
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Omarosa served as the assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison during the Trump Administration in January 2017. However, she was fired by then-White House Chief of Staff John Kelly on Dec. 13, 2017, citing “money and integrity issues” and “inappropriate use of company vehicles.”
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Reflecting on her time on House of Villains, Omarosa explained, “There was no time. I mean, this show was shot so quickly; you don’t really have time to figure out what was up, what was down. You had to get to work if you wanted to survive.” She emphasized the fast-paced nature of the show and how contestants had to adapt quickly to the unique challenges it presented.
Regarding the show’s biggest takeaway, Omarosa hoped that viewers would appreciate the nostalgia of old-school reality TV, where people lived together and strategized. She also emphasized the show’s authenticity, sharing that it captured real-life moments, including scares, shocks, and health emergencies, where the game stopped, and contestants came together as a family.
House of Villains will air on E! beginning Oct. 12 at 10 p.m. ET.
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