It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it… After not being able to lob onto the first challenge of Celebrity Apprentice Australia Season two, I thought I better hustle to the Celebrity art auction that was open to the public. Oh and try to get a bit of action with The Hoff.

I took my two young interns who had to be sacked, if you think Gen Y’s have issues then just you wait for the Gen Z’s to hit the workforce they are prima donnas. Going by the George Calombaris school of industrial relations I paid them with an ice cream and they still were not happy.

Anyway today it was the Celebrity Art Challenge and it was open to the public.  There was the girl’s team plus The Hoff – clearly they are sharing him around, and the boys team going to head to head in an art challenge where the celebs had made art pieces to sell charity. Whoever wins will have made a motza  for their charity as the prices were high.

What is like on the set of reality TV show? Well basically the shows are made in an editing suite as there was not a lot of action happening on the ground. Just small little vignettes that will be edited into something fast paced. There is at least three days of filming that goes into one episode.

Marion Grasby was project manager for the girls team and Dicko for the men. Like last season to make the money it was all about the corporates. The girls had roped in Staedler the stationery company and the guys had Roses Only, also BSC some sort protein bar turned up with a cheque.

Charlotte Dawson who has clearly found the elixir of eternal youth is looking fantastic – just to show I am an equal opportunity blogger and think of the male readers here is Charlotte looking foxy.

Tania Zaetta also appeared to have dabbled in the dark arts of botox as does The Hoff whose nickname should be the fantastic plastic.  Tania Zaetta must be this season’s villain as there is not a lot else going on there. Though her career does limp along so she must have some fans or a very good agent.

The intern took a photo of Dicko and as I was on a middle aged man rampage also he is the reality TV veteran of the show he has been in four. Even Nathan Joliffe indulging in body art could not turn my head.

However what I did see were the celebrities determined to win the challenge as well as make an entertaining reality show and the viewer should reap the benefit of this.

Celebrity Apprentice Australia Season Two will air on Channel NINE in 2012.

Celebrity Apprentice starts filming next week and rumours of who is and is not in the cast continue.

Today the Daily Telegraph is reporting that Kris Smith aka Danni Minogues squeeze has ruled himself out by tweeting that he will not be on the show.

The biggest rumour circulating is that David Hasselhoff has signed up for the show. His one season stint on UK’s Got Talent now over. (Source: TV Tonight)

One of the names mentioned is Dicko who has stepped down as host of Can Of Worms. There has also been rumours that Chopper Read was in talks, but that rumour did come from Chopper himself. For the pretty young thing in this series I am guessing Erin McNaught or Mieke Buchan. Charlotte Dawson is also a possibility which would ensure it is entertaining, she knows what she needs to done to make good reality TV.

It was no surprise that Montana won  Australia’s Next Top Model tonight as she has been the one the judges have been gushing over for most of the series.

What was surprising was that Liz was runner-up. I had thought controversial contestant Simone may have given Montana a run for her money as the outcome was based solely on the public vote.

Also surprisingly Maddie was voted fan favourite. I had thought Izzy or Simone might have taken that out as well.

Thankfully they had cut the final back from 90 minutes to 60 minutes as there was still a lot of filler in it and it was never going to match last year’s for excitement where Sarah Murdoch announced the wrong winner.

This time she made sure she had a piece of paper in her hand.

Due to time constraints I have not been recapping Australia’s Next Top Model however if you want a good recap check out Bland Canyon and Jo Blogs. 

 TV Tonight also has an interesting article where he asks where host Sarah Murdoch is? He says we are getting more Charlotte Dawson than Sarah.

The article states:

Is it just me?

I watched last night’s episode of Australia’s Next Top Model and I kept waiting for Sarah Murdoch to appear.

She didn’t turn up until 40 minutes into the episode and yet she is the show’s host.

Charlotte Dawson accompanied the girls through another challenge and Josh Flynn mentored at a photo shoot.

David Knox then goes on to talk about the role of a host:

Surely the role of a good host is to be there to observe, comment, question and experience what the contestants and viewers are seeing?

Foxtel told me there was nothing unusual from previous seasons, although they did acknowledge Charlotte Dawson has an increased presence this year. They assured me Sarah Murdoch was still actively involved behind the scenes, including in the editing studio. Or is that just for voice-overs?

In other news of ANTM is the shock of Neo going home according to the Daily Telegraph. Apparently real model agencies thinks she has potential. I thought she was stunning however she was a bit one dimensional in her facial expressions.

The Daily Telegraph are saying Australia’s Next Top Model judges Charlotte Dawson and Alex Perry are suing Nine MSN and Facebook over allegations she bullied a university student during a vicious online exchange. (Previous blog post on the issue here).

The stoush cost Charlotte an $18,000 contract.

The article says:

Dawson said she initially joined the Facebook slanging match, believing it was “one of our friends joking around”.

“But as soon as we started, the responses became really full-on and the messages we were sent were so explicit,” she said.

Dawson said comments described her as a “disease-ridden prostitute” and “crack whore”.

“I was so fascinated people would write such hateful things and when I wrote back they’d say, ‘Oh, we love you, we were just having fun’.”

But the online “fun” allegedly ended in death threats to the pair, who now plan a joint action against a Ninemsn report which documented the thread.

In the piece, Dawson reportedly conceded calling the page’s creator a “westie scrag” and its members “f … ing losers”.

Ninemsn head of news Hal Crawford defended the article yesterday, stating: “Charlotte Dawson confirmed with [us] that she had made those comments.”

I think this will be an interesting court case to watch, and wonder if it will set case law in relation to social media comments.

Australia’s Next Top Model judges Alex Perry and Charlotte Dawson have again created controversy by using the social media to have a stoush.

This time is with a student Lucy Blunt who set a facebook page called Alex Perry is a C**T. However the groups name was changed to Alex Perry is a T**t.

What I don’t get is why Alex and Charlotte bothered to respond to this girl’s offensive group. There are some things I really like about Charlotte Dawson, as she is open and direct, but seriously why bother engaging on this level. Also I am not sure why living in the Western Suburbs is such a negative thing.

The Nine MSN article said:

Sydney student Lucy Blunt set up the anti-Perry group in September last year, shortly after he appeared on Celebrity MasterChef.

The war of words began when Ms Blunt wrote last year: “Masterchef were after celebrity cooks, Alex Perry signed up, he thought they were after c-cks!”

Perry discovered the group and joined, referring to its members as “f—ing losers”. He told ninemsn he did not know Ms Blunt before the random attack, which he said left him deeply offended.

“I have a right to my opinion and others have the right to theirs but there’s a certain level of decency you have to uphold,” he said.

Dawson was among those who leapt to Perry’s defence, calling Ms Blunt a “sad attention whore who is loving winding everyone up”.

“Some suburban fattie [sic] with too much time on her hands and a dirty crack pipe has had her jollies creating this page,” Dawson wrote.

“Some fame whore … suburban moll wanting to brag to her mates about calling you a twat.”

Dawson, who also called Ms Blunt a “westie scrag”, said she had no regrets about defending her friend to online “trolls”.

The debate about this and other issues related to Australia’s Next Top Model has moved to a very interesting blog post by Melinda Tankard Reist. She discusses this Facebook incident as well as questioning how Sarah Murdoch can host a show like Australia’s Next Top Model, and be Chairperson of a Body Image Committee. It is something that has crossed my mind as well.

Anyway Charlotte Dawson responds in full to the issues in the comment section of the blog post. Not sure I agree with everything she is saying, but hey it is nice to see a personality/celebrity give a full and frank opinion without a publicist nearby.

Australia’s Next Top Model judge reveals to the Herald Sun that plastic surgery is not all it is cracked up to be.

The article states:

Dawson, an outspoken judge on Australia’s Next Top Model, freely admits she has had a number of surgical procedures over the years, including liposuction, fat injections, breast implants, Aptos threading, Botox injections, dermal fillers and an eye lift.

However, the 44-year-old has confessed to Who magazine she regrets some of the work she has had done.

“Anyone thinking plastic surgery will make them happier is wrong,” Dawson has told the magazine.

The thing I would like to know is why would you have fat injected into your face?

Australia’s Next Top Model judge Charlotte Dawson has kyboshed any hope for a plus sized model contestant to be part of the show this year.

At Westfield Chadstone yesterday Ms Dawson said to Nine MSN ” There is no market for plus-size models in Australia…. it would be tokenism to put a plus-size girl through just for the sake of it”.

She also said:

“I would like someone to name a plus-size model in Australia because I can’t,” she said.

“We could have a plus-size model win the competition and she would end up doing catalogues for Target.”

She makes it sound like modelling in a catalogue is a negative thing, something I am sure most of the previous ANTM contestant’s would love to, considering a lot of their modelling careers have come to a screeching halt, and they are working in retail.

In the US version regularly a “plus size” model (ie a size 12-14) will be included in the series and in fact Whitney Thompson won a series.

Personally I think a plus sized model should be included if they are pretty enough, but not if it is tokenism.

This is my attempt to get into the Spring Carnival spirit, as in acknowledge it.

Matt and Emma Preston at DerbyDay. Photo from www.news.com.au

Jenna and Lisa from Beauty and the Geek, with host Bernard Curry. Photo fromwww.news.com.au

Dancing With the Stars Sonia Kruger. Photo from www.news.com.au

Australian Idol’s Andrew G and Noa Tisby. Photo from www.news.com.au

Charlotte Dawson and Ivan Zellick from The Contender. Photo from www.news.com.au

The Contender commences on Fox 8 this Monday November 2 at 8.30pm. I will be doing a recap, but don’t have my usual enthusiasm as I am not a boxing fan. Anyway let’s hope it surprises me, and I am a big fan of Charlotte Dawson.

Here is what the press release said:

An unscripted drama about the lives, fears and hopes of 14 professional super middleweight boxers, The Contender Australia follows these boxers (from Australia and New Zealand), as they compete for the chance to forever change their lives and the lives of the people they love.   

Following the great success of the U.S. series of The Contender, the first series of the Australian version offers the boxers the ultimate prize of a fight with Anthony “The Man” Mundine.

 Charlotte Dawson and Daniel Amalm host The Contender Australia and work beside boxing mentor Johnny Lewis and team trainers Paul Briggs and Billy Hussein, who all play a part in guiding the boxers through the intense training and the most challenging experience of their lives.  

Produced by Granada Productions, the series follows their journey and the challenges these boxers face in their personal lives and career, as well as provide insight to their fears and hopes. The highly stressful, tough competition will test their relationships with each other in and out of the ring.  

Introducing our Contenders: 

ADRIAN TAIHIA, 26, Sandringham, New Zealand. Described as a rising star in New Zealand, Adrian only started his boxing career three years ago and boasts an undefeated record.

 BEN McCULLOCH, 27, Sydney. This hot Australian prospect is enjoying the “intensity” and “adult” world of boxing. Only turning pro last year, with three fights under his belt his future looks bright having won all three, two by way of knockout.  

DANIEL MACKINNON, 25, Otorohanga, King Country, New Zealand. Currently the New Zealand middleweight champion, Daniel credits his left hook as his strength. In the ring, he likes to work out his opponent and says no matter what their style is he can figure it out and adapt.

GARTH WOOD, 31, Petersham, Sydney. Once voted NRL’s fittest athlete during his rugby league career, Garth only turned pro two years ago – a short but impressive start with five fights and four wins under his belt.  

ISRAEL KANI, 36, Noosa Heads, Queensland. This former super middleweight champion prides himself on his fitness and training and is always ready to fight and compete, joining The Contender to get a sense of how far he can go in the sport. 

JOSH CLENSHAW, 32, Mt Druitt, NSW. He may wear his heart on his sleeve but, with 42 fights and more than 286 rounds to his name, he has been in the ring with just about everybody and has experience on his side. 

JUNIOR TALIPEAU, 25, Cronulla, NSW. Turning professional four years ago, Junior has come a long way in a short time with an impressive 14 fights and 14 wins record under his belt –  winning the vacant Australian middleweight title and making six successful defenses.

KARIZ KARIUKI, 32, Blacktown, NSW. This softly spoken fighter prefers to do the talking in the ring with an impressive record of 18 wins, 17 of them by way of knockout, and is currently ranked 10^th in the World Boxing Organisation ratings.

LES PIPER, 25 Carrara, Gold Coast. Les is the current Australian super middleweight champion and referred to as an improving fighter. He describes himself as a pressure fighter who has a high work rate and an aggressive and busy style.

 LUKE MOLONEY, 29, Reservoir, Melbourne. Often referred to as a pure boxer with great skills, Luke is currently ranked State champion and describes himself as more of a technician than a knock-out-style fighter. 

NADER HAMDAN, 35, Kingsgrove, NSW. Once a street thug and “out of control youth” who turned his life around with boxing, Nader is the only Contender to have already gone the distance with Mundine in a world title fight.  He turned pro at 20 and now at 35 he feels this is his “last shot”.

PRADEEP SINGH, 22, Boronia, Melbourne. Describing himself as “a nice man with a good heart” and priding himself on being healthy, Pradeep is religious about training for up to 17 hours a day.  

SONNI MICHAEL ANGELO, 24, Sydney. Described as one of the more outrageous personalities of Australian boxing, Sonni (“Jungle Boy”, from the Congo) has a style which has been described as explosive and unpredictable. He believes he is indestructible and someone who has defied all odds. 

VICTOR OGANOV, 32, Perth. Victor instills fear in his opponents with his professional career record of 28 wins all by way of knockout: an impressive record showing his talent and the lethal power in his hands.

 If you are reading this article through a feed on TV.com please come and join the discussion and check out the blog at www.realityravings.com