Celebrity Apprentice: The Winner Is...

Spoiler alert! Country singer John Rich went all the way on The Celebrity Apprentice, claiming victory and $250,000 for charity. He was up against actress Marlee Matlin during last night's finale of the NBC reality show. This season of Celebrity Apprentice began in March with 16 contestants, each competing in business-oriented tasks around Manhattan to raise money for and publicize their favorite causes. The final challenge called for competing promotional campaigns for a brand of soda. Host Donald Trump said it was his toughest Apprentice ruling yet.

Rich of the duo Big & Rich now wins a $250,000 check for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Matlin, who won the 1987 Academy Award for best actress for Children of a Lesser God, had been playing for the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Most of the "fired" contestants were back for the live finale. But one of them, reality-show star Richard Hatch, was conspicuously absent. In the latest chapter of his brushes with the law, he had been returned to prison for tax evasion several weeks ago. (Click to read about the next season of the Apprentice.)