Apparently remembering the painful moments that resulted when Donald Trump was forced to speak live during last April's two-hour The Apprentice finale, NBC has announced that Regis Philbin will handle the hosting duties for The Apprentice 2's first attempt at giving the NBC reality series a full-blown Survivor-like reunion show.
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"Regis Philbin has been one of my closest friends for more than 20 years. He is a legend in the business and I personally invited him to join me in hosting The Apprentice three hour finale," said Trump. "It will be great to incorporate his expertise at hosting live events and I know we are also going to have fun together."
"I'm very happy that NBC asked me to be a part of the Apprentice finale," said Philbin. "It's one of the biggest shows of the year and I'm honored to be with my pal Donald Trump, the hottest guy in the business. Me and the Trumpster, what a team."
The Apprentice 2's three-hour finale will air from 8-11PM ET/PT on Thursday, December 16. During its initial two-hour segment, viewers will see the conclusion of the final task assignments given to Apprentice finalists Jennifer Massey and Kelly Perdew and witness Trump select one of them to be his second apprentice. The live reunion show will follow Trump's selection.
A television personality for more than 40 years, Philbin was recently certified by officials of Guinness World Records as the person who has spent the most time in front of U.S. television cameras. In addition to hosting his long-running Live with Regis and Kelly daytime talk show, he was the host of ABC's Who Wants to be a Millionaire phenomenon and also hosted this year's special Super Millionaire revival of the series.
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Jennifer and Kelly's status as The Apprentice 2's final two competitors came as little surprise to diehard fans of the series. Back in September, a gambling website announced that based on an unusual betting pattern, it had reason to believe that the program's outcome had leaked and Jennifer and Kelly were The Apprentice 2's two finalists.