CASSIE'S PRIVATE TEARS: 'MY LIFE HAS JUST BEGUN!'

The Apprentice star opens up about coming out to her husband at age 35 and how it changed her

- Sebastian van der Zwan

She was a hard-nosed business advisor on The Apprentice Aotearoa and she hasn't exactly been mincing her words on Celebrity Treasure Island, but when Woman's Day chats to Cassie Roma, the successful entrepreneur is forced to wipe away tears not once, but twice.

The first time is when we ask the San Diego-born star what personal items she's packed for her stint on the TVNZ 2 reality series.

"I brought a picture of my grandma and I," replies Cassie, 40. "She's my hero and she's tattooed right here on my arm. She's with me every day, which I think she'd be stoked about. "She was an Englishwoman moved to a German-speaking of 200 people in the middle of Missouri just after World War II.

She was a storyteller and she taught me to tell stories." who town Her eyes welling up, Cassie continues, "She was my protector when I was a kid. In her eighties, she would still call me up on the phone and be like, 'Did you see Eminem singing with Elton John at the MTV Music Awards?' She was my soulmate."

Her grandmother's name was Roma and when Cassie split from her ex-husband, she took that as her surname as a tribute. A tear running down her cheek, Cassie tells, "She knew my whole family would have that name before she died eight years ago."