Omarosa Manigault Newman may not be the biggest fan of President Donald Trump right now — but she built her personal brand entirely on his back.
And for that, she has him to thank, though that’s likely the furthest thing from her mind.
The former director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison not only appeared on Trump’s reality TV show “The Apprentice” a whopping three times, but she also headlined a dating series that the president produced.
It’s a rather forgotten but interesting piece of pop culture.
“Donald Trump Presents: The Ultimate Merger” was a show meant to capitalize on Omarosa’s surprise popularity on “The Apprentice.” She quickly became the personality people loved to hate — and that was a perfect recipe for a dating program.
“The Ultimate Merger” premiered on TV One in the summer of 2010; its goal was for Omarosa to find her one true love out of 12 men handpicked by Donald Trump, her mentor at the time.
It was pretty much “The Bachelorette” meets “The Apprentice.”
Contestants fighting for Omarosa’s “love” stayed at the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas. Omarosa was advised not only by Trump but also by Dr. Jamal Harrison Bryant, the pastor of the Empowerment Temple A.M.E. Church in Baltimore, Maryland.
In true Omarosa fashion, she didn’t even pick a winner in the end.
She ultimately chose R&B singer Ray Lavender — but when he revealed he was still legally married, well, he was eliminated from the show and Omarosa was left with nobody.
She would go on to date actor Michael Clarke Duncan, who later passed away, in 2012.
The series returned for a second season starring Toccara Jones, a contestant on both “America’s Next Top Model” and “Celebrity Fit Club.”
The show was rather ridiculous — like most dating reality programs. But it shows how far Omarosa has journeyed from a reality television personality to a bitter ex-White House employee.
Related: Trump Campaign Files Complaint Against Omarosa Over Confidentiality Agreement
It also shows how close she and Trump were at one time. She claims now the president is a “racist,” in her words, but she worked with him for a good number of years. He was good for her career; she knew that and she took advantage of it.
She now seems to think that going anti-Trump is good for her career — that is the path she’s committing to, for better or worse. (The larger question really is: How much longer will most Americans care about her, or any of this?)
Check out more from “The Ultimate Merger” below:
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