When Trace Adkins squared off against Piers Morgan for the title on the NBC series "The Celebrity Apprentice," the schedule put Trace behind the eight ball.

While TV viewers saw the episode — in which the Backstreet Boys headlined a benefit concert — last month, the actual footage was shot back in November. In fact, it occurred the same week that Trace's most financially sound friends were tied up with the Country Music Association awards in Nashville. Trace knew going in that he couldn't possibly deliver massive star power in New York City with just 24 hours notice.

"I immediately told Donald Trump and the producers, 'You don't know what you're asking me to do. There's no way. It would be like asking a bunch of actors to show up in New York City the day after the Oscars,'" Trace said on the Westwood One radio show Country Countdown USA.

"It was an anxious, frustrating day," he added. "I laid out in the boardroom what I was up against and why I couldn't fill the room with country stars, but they conveniently cut that out [of the telecast]. I was just so happy when Eddie Montgomery, Ronnie Milsap and Dean Sams walked in the door."

Trace also noted that John Rich went club-hopping with Ivanka Trump when he came to Trace's aid during an earlier episode in the series. Trace insisted, "I'm not startin' the rumor that they're datin'."