C.J.: Tiegs gets dumped by Trump - lucky for her

What was congenial supermodel Cheryl Tiegs doing on NBC's "Celebrity Apprentice" with just about the most repugnant cast of women in recent memory?

Getting blindsided, I'm told.

"It's going to be cutthroat. It's going to be crazy. It's going to be fun," Donald Trump said at the opening of the 12th installment of his show.

You don't have to know Tiegs as well as I do to realize she wouldn't find good times in a place where insane people are playing with hatchets.

Well, at least she won't have to put up with it anymore.

Tiegs was the first to be fired by Trump on Sunday. She was unavailable for comment Monday.

A source told me Tiegs was speechless in another way when she learned who would be her fellow female cast members on the show, where celebrities execute business-related marketing tasks to raise money for charity. Tiegs' charity was the Farrah Fawcett Foundation.

One apparently doesn't find out who the other cast mates are until it's too late. Tiegs was trapped.

Based on last season's cast that included celebrities such as Marlee Matlin, LaToya Jackson and Star Jones, Tiegs reportedly was expecting more women who had become successful in their own right beyond their original celebrity. But this season it looks as though Trump went mostly low-brow.

Until this show, I could not have imagined a setting in which Tiegs would be near foul-mouthed, table-flipping Teresa Giudice of "Real New Jersey Housewives" fame.

And then there's Victoria Gotti, daughter of Gambino crime family boss John Gotti.

While I'll admit to having a weakness for the foul-mouthed comedian Lisa Lampanelli, who couldn't be that wickedly funny without being fairly intelligent, who the devil is this Aubrey O'Day? Apparently she has a talent for singing and speaking highly of herself. I didn't feel embarrassed about not having ever heard of her after reading a New York Daily News article that parenthetically asked "(what is she famous for again?)"

The immense ego of O'Day, who believes in her superiority to the other women, in part, because she has more Twitter followers, is mind-boggling. I'll just quote her: "I have a tendency to be heavily charming. So I am an amazing candidate for being out on the street and getting people into the restaurant."

Had I not known she was talking about attracting customers to buy sandwiches, I might have been confused about what she meant by street charms.

Deliberative, shy and gracious, Tiegs did not become another person for the reality show cameras. In the end, Tiegs told Trump she was not sure yet she was a good fit. She became more certain while speaking to the camera in the limo that took her away from this reality muck:

"I'm telling you, I did a lot of things behind the scenes that nobody recognized or acknowledged," Tiegs said. "Even though I'm a little teary-eyed, I'm actually happy because I don't think that this environment was right for me. I'm certainly as intelligent as any of the women, but there's a toughness there that I don't have and don't ever want to have."

Shanahan coming to townNorwood Young America's most famous rock 'n' roll photographer is returning to his native state for a special book event in March.

LA-based Rob Shanahan will sign copies of his lush $45 book, "Volume 1: Through the Lens of Music Photographer Rob Shanahan," as well as limited edition gallery prints -- valued at $225 to $450 -- featuring Keith Richards, Joe Walsh, Sting, Tommy Lee, Eddie Van Halen, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and many others. Starr also wrote the foreword to the book of photos taken by his favorite photographer.

The signing is set for March 15 in the space formerly occupied by Theatre de la Jeune Lune. There is a VIP reception from 6-7 p.m. and a general opening at 7.

The day after the book signing, which is aimed at "the ultimate rock 'n' roll fan," Shanahan, himself a drummer, will give a seminar for students at St. Paul's McNally Smith College of Music.

Not dating TebowOlympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn told CNN that going through a divorce is tough, but that she's not easing the heartache by dating QB Tim Tebow.

Vonn's 50th World Cup race earned her face time Monday on CNN with Ashleigh Banfield, whose goofy, exuberant interviewing style yielded demon-juice information the skier probably didn't want to talk about with the media.

Asked about divorcing her husband, Thomas Vonn, another skier and her adviser, Lindsey said, "When you get divorced it's tough. It's something you struggle with every day." Vonn said that despite the divorce being on her mind, she's coming into her own.

However, "I'm not dating Tebow. I'm just friends with his brother."

It was a much better interview than expected from Banfield, who's got the kind of mind that thought it would be funny to early-morning-prank-call Kerry Kennedy, a member of a family that has historically gotten some sad phone calls at odd times.

C.J. is at 612.332.TIPS or cj@startribune.com. E-mailers, please state a subject -- "Hello" doesn't count. Attachments are not opened, so don't even try. More of her attitude can be seen on FOX 9 Thursday mornings.