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The first contestant to go told Paul Jones what he thought of the other would-be Apprentices, Sir Alan Sugar and being fired…
Just how scary is Sir Alan close up, sitting directly across the boardroom table?
He's even scarier close up because you get to see the full extent of his face, which isn't the most beautiful in the world!
He's exactly as you see him on television. Nothing surprised me about his personality. He certainly didn't turn into a puppy dog when the cameras stopped rolling. He is a no-nonsense guy, it's completely true. You saw how I was stumbling all over the place when I was facing him because I just didn't know what to say to this man.
Were you portrayed fairly in the show?
I'm not overly bothered about my portrayal. I think they could have shown more of the boardroom final showdown because it does basically make it look like I didn't argue much. Obviously, we all argued our hearts out. Yes, it's true I didn't argue much for why I should stay in the competition, I simply told him why I hadn't gone wrong in the task. I think that's what Margaret's referring to when she says I didn't defend myself very hard.
I think by that point I saw it as a foregone conclusion. I really didn't like it in there. I was a different character from everyone else. I think I stuck out like a sore thumb amongst the boys and, frankly, I just couldn't be doing with it any more. As it turned out, I got fired first - probably a good thing considering how well my life is going now. I've got a barrister pupillage starting in October, I've got an art exhibition coming up in May, so it's really good.
Did you deserve to get fired?
I think if it had been on tasks alone there's no way on this earth that I should have been fired. But I think it did come down to a personality clash and, in all honesty, my lack of enthusiasm for the competition. It was a very interesting experience, I don't regret it but I wouldn't do it again.
Have we seen realistic pictures of the other contestants in this first episode?
There are a lot of people who haven't really been portrayed much at all. I understand that in the first episode when they're trying to tell a story it's impossible to introduce you to every single candidate but it's also interesting to see who did shine on camera. And the people that you've seen so far did stand out at that point.
That includes you.
(laughs) I stood out for all the wrong reasons!
Any thoughts on who might have what it takes to win?
Out of the girls, Claire and Shazia made an impression on me. Of the boys, I think Simon is the kind of character Sir Alan would like. But I'm not sure how competent he is in the business world. He's good in tasks like this because he's very hands-on, but how good is he gonna be at marketing, which involves a lot of thinking? Who knows?
Alex, to be fair to him, might do quite well. He certainly played the role of victim quite well in the boardroom. I find it amusing to watch but obviously it's quite frustrating all the same. It also frustrated me that he was kept in because he stood up to be project manager - because as you could see from the café scene, we kind of forced him into it. He's hardly the brave knight in shining armour that came to save the team. We asked him to be project manager because he's supposed to be that in real life and, frankly, he didn't do a very good job of it.
I'm sure Sir Alan must have felt a bit ill when he watched this episode for the first time and saw that, actually, did Alex really say that lobster was £4.90? Yes he did. Did he step up to be project manager? No he didn't. I'd love to have been in his house when he saw that.
Before the first episode was aired, we did a survey on the website, asking people to predict the winner based solely on a photograph and a brief sound-bite. I'm sorry to tell you that you came bottom…
Probably because I have no business experience. It's pretty fair. Quite accurate, I guess. Also, I don't know how many females you had voting but they all seem to fancy Alex and Ian and Lee so there might have been a bit of that in it as well…
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