“Everyone — from the celebrities to the crew to the marketing department — was a straight 10,<br />and I would absolutely work with all of them again on a show that doesn’t have this baggage.”<br />Mr. Schwarzenegger told the publication Empire on Friday: “It’s not about the show because everyone I ran into came up to me and said, ‘I love the show …<br />but I turned it off because as soon as I read Trump’s name I’m outta there!’”<br />Indeed, the show’s ratings this year were bad.<br />“I loved every second of working with NBC and Mark Burnett,” Mr. Schwarzenegger said, referring<br />to the creator of “The Apprentice,” the show that turned Mr. Trump into a reality-TV star.<br />Mr. Schwarzenegger responded in kind, posting on Twiter a video in which he suggested he and Mr. Trump switch jobs “so people can finally sleep comfortably again.” But even<br />that bit of unexpected — and unprecedented — publicity for the show did little to raise its fortunes.<br />The actor — who spent some of his time as host jousting with President Trump — has informed NBC that he will not return.<br />“The ratings went right down the tubes,” Mr. Trump said at a National Prayer Breakfast in early February, with Mr. Burnett in the audience.<br />NBC declined to comment, but Mr. Schwarzenegger’s departure is likely to throw the future of the series — already struggling<br />because of its small audience this year — into further doubt.
