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Health & Fitness

Talking With Marilu Henner

Another pinch me moment when Marilu Henner, contestant on Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars rang me up to chat.

There I was minding my own business just enjoying a rare moment of peace and quiet when I get an email that Marilu Henner was going to call me. My kids make fun of me for still using email . It’s so uncool you know. But this was pretty cool and it was really from Marilu Henner and not one of those spam things that tricks you into opening and then asks if you’re a desperate single or want to share in a jackpot.

 So what does one talk to Marilu Henner about? I mean she’s had every kind of success imaginable. She’s been on Broadway. Who didn’t love her on Taxi or Evening Shade! She lit up the big screen and somehow still found time to write her best selling books teaching us how to become healthy. She has a website Marilu.com and now she’s back on Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars.

What I loved was that she was genuine and down to earth. I admitted to feeling nervous and being a bit star struck. She immediately put me at ease describing herself as "so normal, you have no idea. I’m like a girl from the neighborhood."

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She could  have boasted about her impressive career or dropped a name or two or three, but instead she shared a part of herself. She talked about growing up in a large competitive family and I couldn’t help but laugh as she told me about a Christmas game night that sent a family member to the ER. I loved her right there.

It was her competitive nature and the fact that she was a Celebrity Apprentice fan from the beginning that made her want to be a part of the show.

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Massapequa native, producer and NBC VP, Chuck LaBella told me that Marilu was his first phone call when putting together a cast. Marilu can tell you the exact date saying, "I got a call on August 23, 2007. It was a Thursday." She followed that up with "I jumped at the chance!"

She is back for another shot "because I had such a good time the first time. But I wanted to do even better this time."  She has HSAM , highly superautobiographical memory and because she "can’t imagine anything worse than losing your memory," her charity is Alzheimer’s Association. She "wanted to share the love," saying "your memory is your story."

There’s so much to love about Marilu Henner. Yes, she’s had a fabulous career but watching her on Celebrity Apprentice, its hard not to be impressed with how strong she is as a player while getting along with the members on her team. It can’t be easy in a room filled with egos and strong personalities. Or Gary Busey.

It was refreshing to see Marilu interact with the other women on her team in a positive way and to see her blossoming friendship with Lisa Rinna. "I adore her. We’ve become really close friends. We’ve become BFF’s. We have a bond now forever."

My favorite part of our conversation was when she told me about an old obsession she had with Sting. She giggled as she recalled appearing on, "The Tonight Show  on May 13, 1993, which was a Thursday," yes, in mid-sentence she can do that, and having what was like an outer body experience when discovering that Sting was also a guest. "For me it was like I it was like a 13 year- old girl crawled through her TV set to meet her idol."

She laughed as she told me about being invited backstage at a show and Sting laughingly telling her not to worry that the restraining order was over. I asked her if she still had a Sting thing and laughed listening to her say, "Sting is like, oh my God, he’s a God! I love Sting!"

So there I was talking about celebrity crushes with Marilu Henner and it felt so normal. I had to snap myself out of it and ask the burning question. What’s The Donald like!!!!

Marilu described him as "I love the smell of business in the morning. He is very impressive. His children are off the charts impressive."  Despite what we’d think about the boardroom being a cage match, she described it as fun. The Donald picks up on energies and "thinks on his feet. He’s definitely not scripted." She acknowledged that he may get bullet points on what’s going on but for the most part when it comes to him what we see is real.

That was how I felt about Marilu Henner. She is real. Check out her behind the scenes blog and tune in Sundays at 9 on NBC.

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