If Donald Trump decides to run for president in 2016, NBC is wondering what would happen with his show “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
Network insiders say if Trump were to run — and he’s planning a big announcement on Tuesday, about what we’ll soon see — he cannot remain as host of the entertainment show, which attracted 6.1 million viewers for its Season 7 finale in February.
NBC has renewed “Celebrity Apprentice” for an eighth season, but has not announced when the new season will premiere.
A network insider told us filming was to start in September, but producers are “waiting to see if Donald is going to declare he’s running for president, which would preclude him from hosting the show.”
The source added other options would be to have the Trump kids — Ivanka, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump — as hosts, find an alternative host, or put “The Apprentice” on hiatus “and just wait.”
A second source said, “NBC will be watching his announcement. Then, if he does run, they will be looking closely at the election law to see if Donald can still be involved as a producer.” Reps for NBC and Trump declined to comment.