PASADENA, Calif. — Omarosa is doing another reality show, which isn't exactly news. Since she became the Woman We Love to Hate on the first season of "The Apprentice," she's done show after show after show.
Her 15 minutes of fame should have ended years ago, but yet she somehow hangs on.
And Omarosa Manigault-Stallworth remains entirely full of herself, which is also no surprise.
"I have done 20-plus reality shows, and I enjoy doing it," she said. "Clearly I'm good at it because I've been at the top of reality for the last six years."
Um, what? This is a woman who long ago became sort of a reality-show joke, doing lower-tier schlock that makes "The Apprentice" look like an art film. And yet she's about to appear in yet another, this one on the little-watched TV One satellite/cable channel.
And Omarosa insists that "Life After," which debuts Sept. 13, will give her a chance to repair her image by just letting Omarosa be Omarosa. And, yes, she thinks a reality show is the right place to repair her reality-show image.
"Well, another show is definitely the way to go, especially when it's a show like this that gives you the behind-the-scenes insight, that gives you information that's never been revealed, that gives you an opportunity to see me outside of the ('Apprentice') boardroom as a real person with emotions as opposed to the ice queen that you saw in the boardroom," she said. "And yes, I am an ice queen in the boardroom. But when I walk out of the boardroom, I'm an auntie. I'm a daughter. And I'm sassy.
"This piece is probably one of the most authentic pieces that have ever been done on me, and it's an opportunity for you to see me as I truly am."
Hmmmm. So, if we haven't seen the real Omarosa on all those other reality show? Was she faking it?
"First of all, when I'm shooting a show like the scene between me and Piers Morgan on 'Celebrity Apprentice' or me and psycho Janice Dickinson (on 'The Surreal Life'), at that moment whatever I'm feeling is authentic," Omarosa said. "I'm not trying to play it up. I'm not thinking about ratings. I'm not thinking about sitting in front of you all. Whatever I'm feeling at that moment is my authentic emotion. And I just let it go.
"And sometimes I have crossed the line. In fact, I've stepped over that line, and kicked the line, and walked past the line in every situation on realty television. But I own up to that. I take responsibility for the things that I have done."
And she's sorry — oh-so-deeply sorry — for some of the things she's done.
"I would like first to apologize for calling Janice Dickinson a crack head," Omarosa said, clearly enjoying the laughs she got with that apology. "And saying that she was cuckoo. And saying she was the oldest supermodel. I might want to apologize for talking about her jowls and her bad plastic surgery. I would also like to apologize for saying that she had a bad weave and that she was a terrible mother.
"I might also want to apologize to Piers Morgan for saying that he was a British idiot. And maybe to Wendy Williams for calling her a man. I can go on and on. I just felt like having a holistic moment."
Because, with Omarosa, everything is about Omarosa.
At least she's honest about why she agrees to appear on reality shows.
"I come out to L.A. and do a reality show for $100,000 and we shoot for 12 days," she said. "Why wouldn't I do it? ... If you do the math, then you probably wouldn't ask that question."
Except that the show that made her famous, "The Apprentice," didn't pay well. For that, she blamed producer Mark Burnett.
"Do we want to have a conversation about Mark Burnett? My first show with Mark Burnett I signed blindly, and you all know what that entailed," she said.
But, oddly enough, she did return to do a season of "Celebrity Apprentice."
But it's hard to argue with Omarosa when she asserts that her fame, such as it is, isn't really her fault.
"You have to look at the viewers," she said. "If 28 million people tune into 'The Apprentice,' is it me that is the problem or is it 28 million people who have an interest and an appetite for that type of drama?"
An excellent point.
If American viewers didn't watch the kind of junk that has made Omarosa rich and slightly famous, TV programmers wouldn't put it on.
Not that that excuses Omarosa's often obnoxious behavior on these shows.
And now comes news that she is in training to become a minister.
Heaven help us.
e-mail: pierce@desnews.com