On the set of The Celebrity Apprentice, when Donald Trump stared at Bret Michaels across the board room table with his beady little eyes and questioned why Bret chose to make a diet drink instead of a regular drink (because he feels diet drinks are generally less popular), I grew even more annoyed at the devil’s advocate role he insists on playing in every board room elimination.  How dare he try to make Bret Michaels, my favorite celeb reality star ever, sweat while defending his drink of choice!  I’d been pulling for Bret to win from the beginning, and in my mind he was the underdog who would surprise everyone and win it all; I knew he’d have won it all, even though now many unfortunately assume he won on a sympathy vote from Trump himself after his unfortunate medical mishaps over the past few weeks before the finale.

However, once Bret was rightfully named winner of Celebrity Apprentice and the Snapple beverages both he and fellow finalist Holly Robinson Peete created in the final challenge hit stores worldwide, I saw eye to eye with Donald Trump for the first time.  Bret’s Diet TropARocka was nearly impossible to track down in stores, where Holly’s Compassionberry was popping up everywhere!  I first assumed that Bret’s was harder to find because he was the winner, so his must be flying off the shelves faster; but when asking employees at every deli, gas station convenience store, and grocery store I desperately searched, I was coming to learn that most people were unaware that there even were two kinds of Celebrity Apprentice Snapple.

“Oh sure, we have Celebrity Apprentice Snapple!” they would reply, and point me in the direction of shelves full of Compassionberry.

“Do you have the other Celebrity Apprentice Snapple? The Diet TropARocka?” I’d disappointedly ask.

“Oh…there’s another kind? We just have what you see stocked there,” they’d all answer, walking away.

My boyfriend knew of my frustration and disappointment, and turned to eBay to track me down my very own bottle of Diet TropARocka.  In 7-10 business days, my one precious bottle finally showed up and after hugging my boyfriend incessantly for bringing it into my life, I couldn’t wait to try it.  I soon learned it was well worth the wait! Bret truly did do an amazing job at creating a unique and tasty flavor; and adding in the cinnamon flavor that initially caused some raised eyebrows turned out to be just what the drink needed.

To be honest, I had no idea who Bret Michaels was until Rock of Love hit the Vh1 airwaves in 2007.  I guess I vaguely knew of Poison’s existence in the music world, but to me Bret will always be the reality star in that infamous bandanna that brings the right mix of humor to the less-than-real “reality” show drama found in all reality television, making him more charismatic than any other reality show “star” I’ve ever watched.  I watched all three seasons of Rock of Love, and when it was announced he’d appear on Celebrity Apprentice I couldn’t wait to watch him compete against celebrities such as Darryl Strawberry, Sharon Osbourne, and Rod Blagojevich; mostly, I was excited to see him on a television show with fully clothed people where every other word didn’t have to be bleeped out by television censors!

As I watched Bret surprise everyone (except me) and secure his spot as a finalist, I was twice as pumped to learn that the final challenge would involve Snapple.  One of my all-time favorite beverages, I enjoyed watching the process that goes into creating new flavors and bottles, and was twice as glad Bret was a part of it all.

I plan on saving my Diet TropARocka bottle, as any intense fan would, and displaying it next to the signed picture of Bret I obtained at a meet-and-greet he was doing in a bar in New York in 2008.  To me, it’ll be as great of a souvenir as the signed picture itself.  Watching Bret work hard throughout the show and put out a finished product that can be enjoyed by his fans throughout the world gives an even greater celebrity-fan connection. Rock on, Bret; your Snapple truly is awesome.