Apprentice's Kristi Is Za-through-a!

Things were far from peachy for Georgia's Kristi Caudell, who last week was fired from The Apprentice for, well, fabricating some freaky-big kids for a parade float promoting Sony's upcoming Zathura movie. Should project manager Jennifer M. have gotten the hook for, among other things, repeatedly mauling the Zathura name right in front of director Jon Favreau? TVGuide.com spoke to Kristi about that, about Toral's taunts and more.

TVGuide.com: What happened to the little "blondes and Marshawn have more fun" clique you had going on there? It's like, all of the sudden everybody turned on you.
Kristi Caudell: [Laughs] Actually, they all didn't. You didn't get to see Alla and Felisha speak [in the boardroom]. I was definitely drawn more to those two you can call it the "blonde clique" if you want, but we worked very well together.

TVGuide.com: But not with Jennifer M.
Kristi: No, not necessarily.

TVGuide.com: Maybe you would have fared better if you struck sensual, beauty-pageant-like poses as Jennifer did in her video diaries. She was always pressed against a tree, draped "just so" over a bench....
Kristi: You know, that gives me a good laugh, it really does. [Laughs] Yeah, when I have my [Apprentice viewing] parties, it gives everyone a good laugh.

TVGuide.com: What did you think of the reward you missed out on, recording a song with Wyclef Jean? I would have preferred to have Sony float me a beta version of PlayStation 3.
Kristi: When you can walk away from this experience with something like that, creating a song, it's actually pretty cool. The one time we won, we went and played ice hockey.

TVGuide.com: That didn't work out well for Rebecca [who broke her ankle].
Kristi: No, it didn't.

TVGuide.com: Did you have fun, though?
Kristi: Oh, I had a blast! I've played indoor soccer, so Felicia and I were aggressive and going at each other.... It was so much fun.

TVGuide.com: In my Q&A with Toral, she said, "When you have an individual like Kristi a 23-year-old kid with no work experience who doesn't even speak proper English get in your face... you're like, 'Dear god, get me off of this.'"
Kristi: Um, Toral is an interesting character. You can't really say "no work experience." [Kristi works as a sales executive for Gold Creek Golf Club in Dawsonville, Ga.] And I'm not 23, so.... Everything she stated was her opinion and she can have her opinion all day long and that's OK!

TVGuide.com: Toral also said that, with her ouster, "they removed 1) the juiciest character on the show thus far and 2) easily the smartest woman on the women's team. Who is there now to watch?"
Kristi: Oh, wow. [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: Speaking of the Dairy Queen task, how hot was it inside the Zip costume?
Kristi: It was so hot. [The costume] was actually falling apart on me during our presentation, the metal [frame] cut into me, I was bleeding.... It was absolutely awful. But we asked Marshawn to wear it, too, and she said no. Nobody would wear it. Finally, I was like, "Fine, I'll do it. No big deal." It didn't matter to me.

TVGuide.com: You could have, you know, made Zip "dance around" a bit more. Be more festive.
Kristi: Hey, I would have. I didn't have enough room.

TVGuide.com: Well, you have your Nov. 12 marriage to look forward to  happier times ahead!
Kristi: Yeah, exactly!

TVGuide.com: Does your husband-to-be watch you on The Apprentice?
Kristi: He does, and he enjoys it. I have an 8-year-old daughter who watches it as well.

TVGuide.com: She watches Mommy on TV?
Kristi: Yes, and I talk to her about the things she sees. It's funny how you've seen a lot of me on the show, yet last [week] when they had to portray me as negative, you never would see me. So I had to explain to Catelyn that in life, as on this show, not everybody is going to like you and that's OK. So she gets to learn a lot of valuable lessons [from The Apprentice].

TVGuide.com: Yeah, all we really saw of you [during the Zathura task] was the run-in you had with Jennifer M., where she said you are too bossy.
Kristi: Yeah, just that run-in. Meanwhile, she didn't have good time-management skills, we got lost in the city and she couldn't get us back, we were gone for hours so we started late....

TVGuide.com: She was busy shopping for last-minute frills when she could have been practicing how to say "Zathura."
Kristi: Exactly. And the float was supposed to be a big house with a galaxy behind it, then she went and added these kids and all this crap. I was like, "No, it's 3 am, we can't do that!" I was the one building the float while she's walking around in her heels. So I just had to let it go and let her do her own thing. What's funny is she said, "Everyone on the team is tired of [my attitude]," but what you didn't get to see is that when I went to my teammates  besides Marshawn, who really didn't jump in any time during the episode and said, "Guys, you got a problem with me? Come to me about it." They were like, "We don't have a problem with you." Just like in the boardroom, Jen M. threw a lot of mud and lied a lot. I just wasn't willing to do that.

TVGuide.com: Lastly, will Reese Witherspoon be playing you in the movie version of The Apprentice: Journey to Zathura?
Kristi: [Laughs] Aww, if anyone tells me I look like her, I'd love it. I think she's a beautiful woman!