Inside Bill Rancic’s comeback – starring Eric Trump and friends: The Apprentice winner dipped out to raise a family but is back with a new podcast, and says Donald Trump was ‘exhausting’
- It was love at first sight for Bill Rancic and former E! News anchor Giuliana Rancic (née DePandi) when she interviewed him after he won the first season of The Apprentice
- The couple have suffered through fertility issues and cancer together but now Bill is making a comeback with a new financial advice podcast featuring the likes of Eric Trump and Howie Mandel
Remember the guy who won the first-ever season of The Apprentice in 2004? To jog your memory, it was restaurateur Bill Rancic, who segued in to reality TV with his wife, Giuliana Rancic, in 2009 with their show Giuliana and Bill.
Bill all but disappeared from the spotlight in 2014 to focus on his highly successful restaurant group RPM, and to help raise the couple’s son Duke, per People magazine. However, he did occasionally still appear on shows such as Celebrity Page and The Kelly Clarkson Show.
Now he’s returning to showbiz as a “serial entrepreneur”, author and motivational speaker, ready to share his pearls of financial wisdom through an edutainment podcast called Dollar Bill with Bill Rancic. So far, guests on the pod have included Eric Trump and comedian Howie Mandel.
The idea reportedly came from his wife – the entrepreneur and former E! News anchor Giuliana Rancic – who suggested he start a podcast to offer the financial advice that “they don’t teach you in school”, and equipped him with tips from her own career as a host.
But for the uninitiated, who is Bill Rancic? Here’s what you need to know about him.
Bill Rancic is from Chicago
Rancic was born and raised in Chicago, according to his IMDb bio, and later graduated from Loyola University. During Giuliana’s stint with E! News, the couple were splitting their time between Chicago and LA before moving to the West Coast. Now they’ve decided to move back to Chicago to be closer to family as their son starts middle school, according to an interview they gave to People in July.
He was treated ‘exceptionally well’ by Trump on The Apprentice
Twenty years after his big win on The Apprentice, the multi-hyphenate has opened up about how being on the show changed his life. Rancic revealed to PageSix that Donald Trump was “exhausting” to keep up with because “he was the first guy at it, last guy to call it a day”. He said the former president’s work ethic inspired his own and taught him that “no one should outwork you”.