Every season of The Celebrity Apprentice is interesting to me. Who are the stars that want to signup and subject themselves to these business-themed challenges? One such celebrity on The New Celebrity Apprentice is comedian Matt Iseman, who joined the cast to raise money for the Arthritis Foundation.
Much like fellow comedian Ken Jeong, Iseman was also a licensed physician before he turned to entertainment, according to his NBC bio. His first role in Hollywood was that of Rock Fowler on General Hospital in 2003 — another star that got their start on a soap. From there, he moved onto roles on The Drew Carey Show, NCIS, Courting Alex, Clean House Comes Clean, The League, and Hot In Cleveland. Iseman is known as a stand-up comedian and host, too, fronting shows like Scream Play, Dumbest Stuff On Wheels, Team Ninja Warrior, American Ninja Warrior, and Home & Family.
Contestants on The Celebrity Apprentice raise money for a charity of their choice and Iseman’s is one that’s very close to his heart, the Arthritis Foundation. According to USA Today, Iseman was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in 2002 when he was just 31. “I had been having symptoms on and off for about a year and a half pretty consistently,” he told the magazine. “I saw various doctors and they had run some blood tests. RA had been a consideration, but the initial tests were borderline and inconclusive.” RA deforms and damages joints because the immune system starts attacking the tissues inside them, and according to the Rheumatoid Arthritis Support Network, about 1.5 million Americans are afflicted with the chronic disease. There’s no cure for RA, but Iseman’s is controlled with the use of various medicines used to combat it.
Iseman’s passion for fighting RA and helping find a cure makes me think that he’ll channel this passion into The New Celebrity Apprentice and fight hard to bring money to the Arthritis Foundation. He knows how debilitating RA can be, and he wants a cure as much as anyone. I also think that Iseman’s comedic and medical backgrounds can help him out on the show — comedians are natural improvisers, able to move quickly without skipping a beat. This could come in handy during a project that doesn’t go his way on the show. Doctors, on the other hand, are methodical and logical, so Iseman could definitely be useful when putting together business plans or steering the direction of a larger project.
From my eyes, Iseman is a triple threat to the rest of The New Celebrity Apprentice cast. He has passion, drive, improv skills, and the ability to triage, which should help him assess anything that gets thrown at him.
