Looking Back at Omarosa's Trump-Produced Dating Show 'The Ultimate Merger'

Now-President Trump picked 12 suitors to date Omarosa Manigault Newman for the short-lived series.

Before the war of words between President Trump and former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman over secret recordings, the pair teamed up for a dating show to find her love. 

Trump was the executive producer of the short-lived reality show, “The Ultimate Merger,” which aired in 2010. 

But one of the so-called suitors is coming forward now to say the show was a bit of a sham. Eddy Puyol said Manigault Newman, who previously appeared on "The Apprentice" alongside Trump, lived up to her reputation as a reality show villain.

“I remember saying, ‘So wait a minute. If I win, am I really going ... to marry her?’ And they said, ‘No man, it's just for TV,” he told Inside Edition. 

Puyol called Manigault Newman “very cutthroat” and “kind of brash.” 

After he was eliminated, Puyol said he was surprised to learn she was already committed to actor Michael Clarke Duncan.

“Alright, we're doing a TV show with you, but you're already engaged to Hercules,” he said. 

Puyol said that the release of secret tapes recorded by Manigault Newman inside the White House “feels too much like reality TV,” adding, “I’m a big believer that you don't want to bite the hand that feeds you.”

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