Marlee Matlin found Star Jones and NeNe Leakes disruptive
It was a great surprise to us during Sunday's episode of "The Celebrity Apprentice" when actress Marlee Matlin chose not to bring former teammate Star Jones on to the final challenge that would decide if she wins this season's competition against country singer John Rich.
Yet, it makes better sense now as she admits on a press call Monday that she found Star and NeNe Leakes behavior disruptive to her goal of raising money for her charity.
"Whatever the hoopla that surrounded the relationship that they had," Matlin says. "And whatever drama that came with that was something that I didn't choose to involve myself with in terms of the way I played the game."
"It's not the person that I am," she continues. "I don't find it entertaining to me to get involved in people's arguments like that. Again, it was about the two of them."
Matlin goes on to say that she can see why the viewers would be glued to the drama of Star and NeNe, but she wasn't about to let that keep her from winning her charity some money.
"Whatever clash that occurred, I almost felt like for me it got too old, too quick and I decided to focus on the tasks," she says. "I really did. It's not about who I am. And sometimes it overshadowed the purpose and my aim for being there, which was to raise money, but I would never let it get in the way."
Despite the way they handled themselves, Marlee says she respects her cast mates even if she disapproved of how they carried on.
"They're both women who are very vocal," she says. "And that's what's great about them. That's why they are game players. One may be louder than the other. One may deal with things in a more discrete fashion. But, whatever it is, it is what it is."
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