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The Apprentice's Craig Gets Cranky

As Apprentice aficionados know, Kendra and Tana are headed for the final boardroom showdown next week. But there's been conflict all season long between Kendra and third-place finisher Craig Williams. The 38-year-old EMT/firefighter/shoe-shine entrepreneur behaved quite condescendingly toward Kendra, a 26-year-old Floridian realtor. Perhaps that 'tude could be chalked up to his way with words — or lack thereof. Here, TVGuide.com puts Craig in the hot seat to get some answers. Surprisingly enough, he manages to get his point across quite clearly! TVGuide.com: You're a businessman, but viewers always heard you fumbling for words. Did the cameras just catch you at bad moments?Craig Williams: It is not that I can't express myself, it is just that sometimes I do get into my head. I'm very analytical. It is one of the many faults of Craig. I am a human being.

Angel Cohn

As Apprentice aficionados know, Kendra and Tana are headed for the final boardroom showdown next week. But there's been conflict all season long between Kendra and third-place finisher Craig Williams. The 38-year-old EMT/firefighter/shoe-shine entrepreneur behaved quite condescendingly toward Kendra, a 26-year-old Floridian realtor. Perhaps that 'tude could be chalked up to his way with words — or lack thereof. Here, TVGuide.com puts Craig in the hot seat to get some answers. Surprisingly enough, he manages to get his point across quite clearly!

TVGuide.com: You're a businessman, but viewers always heard you fumbling for words. Did the cameras just catch you at bad moments?
Craig Williams:
It is not that I can't express myself, it is just that sometimes I do get into my head. I'm very analytical. It is one of the many faults of Craig. I am a human being.

TVG: It was interesting to see you praying with Tana. That's not something we see too often on reality TV.
Craig:
I am a Christian, but not a religious Christian. I am deeply rooted in my beliefs. I am more into living it as opposed as to talking about it. That was one of the many times we prayed. That was the great thing about coming over to Magna; there was a level of spiritual mindedness on the team. Until it got to the point where [someone was] a threat to me!

TVG: It is a competition.
Craig:
Yeah, bottom line, Kendra took things more [personally] all the time. It wasn't what I said or how I said it. It didn't matter; it was just the fact that Craig said it. So if I wanted her to say "cold," I would say "hot."

TVG: Were you friendly with Kendra at all?
Craig:
As long as we weren't in a task, we were fine. But, when it came to tasks, our work ethics were different. Our insights — or lack of insights — were different. With the age gap, I have experience. I never made it seem like [she was] inexperienced, but that was her perspective. I [must have] reminded her of somebody that she didn't have a good relationship with when she was growing up.

TVG: So you didn't have a problem with Kendra's youth?
Craig:
No, but it would form a callous when it came to dealing with her. There is only so far I'm going to go. I have expectations of adults, and I lose patience when those expectations aren't being [fulfilled]. Consider others. She would say stuff like, "Everybody loves pepperoni" [during the Domino's task]. I would bring it to her attention that you have to get outside yourself and think of the consumer. [My intention was] not to belittle her or anything like that. Obviously, I wasn't doing it well enough so she would listen.

TVG: Sounds like you're rooting for Tana.
Craig:
That's obvious, and it is not just because [Tana] is Kendra's opponent. Tana's the better person of the two that are left, bar none. Tana and I are real. It is about being true to yourself.

TVG: Was it hard to watch the CEOs critique you?
Craig:
No. They have a right to their opinion. We all have a set of nostrils and an opinion, and that's what it is, an opinion. When I had that [interview], I was trying to get them to see where I was coming from, like, "You probably haven't experienced a person like me. I'm just giving you a little bit of who Craig is and how he operates." They took that as being my lowest point of the show; it wasn't. For me, it was a victory. I was able to communicate and let them know a little more about me.

TVG: You got some of the cooler rewards, like the dogfight one where you went head-to-head with Kendra.
Craig:
Yeah. I knew that was straight TV right there. It was incredible flying that plane.

TVG: And the space reward.
Craig:
Yeah. That was the Home Depot reward. It was the first time I ever heard Kendra say something that was true and concise when she said, "We did not deserve this because we didn't step up." She gained points with me on that one, [until] Pontiac came across and she flipped the script. She had support and they made it seem like she did everything.

TVG: Why did you want to do The Apprentice?
Craig:
I'm a fan of [executive producer] Mark Burnett; I was a semi-finalist last season for The Apprentice and Survivor. I like the concept of bringing your A game and proving yourself. I at least had to try out for it and watch the season in peace and not sit there going "coulda shoulda woulda."

TVG: Do you still hope to go on Survivor?
Craig:
That would be cool. It is not something I am pursuing aggressively. I'm more prone to do The Amazing Race; that would be outstanding [for] me and my wife. Just don't put me with Kendra. I'd kill her.