'Apprentice' job for Illinois politician

CHICAGO, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich will go head-to-head with Donald Trump as a contestant on Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" next season, sources say.

Both the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Tribune reported Friday word has leaked out that Blagojevich will join Trump's show.

Steve Webster, a spokesman for the show's producer, says he can neither confirm nor deny the reports.

Webster says the show's 14 contestants won't be officially announced until late January or early February.

Blagojevich has already heard the phrase "You're Fired."

In January, the Illinois Legislature booted him out of office for his arrest on charges of attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Barack Obama.

Blagojevich's wife, Patti, appeared earlier this year as a contestant on the NBC show "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!"