A Reality Check With ... Nicole (NBC's "The Apprentice")

25-year-old Nicole D'Ambrosio may not have gotten hired, but she found love on NBC's "The Apprentice". Here to talk about the live finale, Nicole gives insight into Trump's decision to hire Stefani, the final task, and what really went on at the Hollywood Bowl!

RC: Let’s talk about the live finale. How nervous were you going into it & how did you prepare?
Nicole: I was more excited than nervous. It’s been a long wait. We were done filming last July. I was getting a lot of my life prepared for getting ready to go work for him. They did that long recap, and I was wondering – how is he going to have time to hire 3 people? I didn’t get to make a good case for myself. Thankfully, Tim spoke up for me saying that I had stepped up week 2 when nobody else wanted to. The hardest thing to hear Sunday night was when Stefani called herself the glue that held the team together. Frank & I looked at each other! What she said was MORE than a stretch.

RC: Were you surprised Trump hired Stefani because she’s never stepped up to be PM?
Nicole: Tim & I were joking after the taping that out of the 4 people, the one person that we thought had absolutely no chance was Stefani.

RC: Some people seemed clearly unhappy to be there, Surya in particular. Was there drama at the finale or did everyone behave themselves?
Nicole: Tim & I felt nervous about Surya. He would never badmouth anyone. They could never show his side of the story because he never badmouthed anyone. The interesting thing was that Surya directed the commercial for the final task – not Frank. Editing made it look like Frank had done the directing. There was definitely drama in different groups, people talking about it each other. It’s like: Get over it!

RC: The internet is going crazy trying to figure out what Trump meant when he said that certain things James said upset him. Do you know what he meant?

Nicole: I don’t know for sure! I’m dying to know! I thought it was that he kept promoting his company. Tim thinks that during the GMC task that James complained about everything at the last minute.

RC: The main reason Trump seemed to fire you was because of the romance with Tim. If you could have responded, what would you have said?
Nicole: I definitely would have asked why it was originally encouraged. If you thought it was brought up a lot on tv, it was brought up about 10 times as much! It was always the topic of conversation. I think all relationships being brought into business is the same thing. He was saying to me that I shouldn’t get involved when his two children sat on either side of him. That’s a personal relationship being brought into business.

RC: Tim said that he felt he couldn’t wait to be with you because if he didn’t make his move then, it wasn’t going to happen. Do you feel the same way?
Nicole: Oh definitely! Have you ever gone on vacation with someone for 5 days and you’re with them day in & day out and you start to feel like you know them really well? Now make that 2 months. We were with each other 24/7 & we tried to say, “We’re not going to do this here.” Obviously, that didn't happen! The worst part of the whole thing was that Tim got fired for the relationship.

RC: You two are still together – are you living in the same place or do you have a long distance relationship?
Nicole: Yes, we are still together. We are doing the long-distance thing. We went to Italy together right after the show finished. It was so weird to be away from cameras!

RC: What will you do now that The Apprentice is over?
Nicole: I have an agent in LA She wants me to get into acting (movies, commercials). I’m writing a book – like everyone else! I have more time now that I don’t have to move to the Dominican Republic.

Please visit Nicole's official website to see what she's up to!

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