Farouk Shami to Appear on "Celebrity Apprentice"

Texans may know Farouk Shami as a former long-shot candidate for governor, the inventor of the CHI hair straightener and the subsequent head of a massive hair care empire, or as the inspiration for perhaps the greatest campaign song of all time.

Shami will soon add one more job to that list: guest judge on Celebrity Apprentice.

Despite promising to bring jobs, jobs and more jobs to Texas, Shami, a Palestinian-born businessman from Houston, only garnered 13 percent of the vote in the 2010 Democratic primary for Texas governor, which was not enough to beat former Houston Mayor Bill White. Luckily for fans of his campaign (especially the ones that missed him on Miss Universe 2010), it won't be long before he will be gracing their televisions once again.

On May 1, he will appear on NBC's reality show Celebrity Apprentice as a guest judge alongside host Donald Trump. As its name suggests, the show features contestants with varying degrees of notoriety competing in business-themed challenges, judged by Trump and others, to raise money for charity. 

This season, the show's 11th, will feature Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes, actresses Lisa Rinna and Marlee Matlin, model Niki Taylor, singer Dionne Warwick, former co-host of The View Star Jones, Playmate Hope Dworaczyk and LaToya Jackson. It will also feature rapper Lil Jon, actor Gary Busey, former baseball player Jose Canseco, Survivor winner Richard Hatch, former teen idol David Cassidy, and singers Meat Loaf, John Rich and Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath.

That list does not include Comptroller Susan Combs, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst or any of the other Texas politicos whom Shami was — just one year ago — hoping to spend time with at the Texas Capitol. Still, Shami sounds pretty happy about the gig. In a press release, he said, “Watch me, the Hair King, on The Celebrity Apprentice with my good friend Donald Trump. We are proud to have gotten the opportunity to share in this experience. You won’t want to miss out on this season!”