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She became the second contestant to be fired after the girls' team failed in the laundry task. Shazia told Paul Jones why it was an unfair dismissal, who was really to blame and who she's rooting for now.
Bad luck. You didn't deserve to go, did you?
No, I don't think so! Towards the end of the task, we knew we weren't able to complete all the laundry on time so I made a suggestion because that's what I do. If you're in a bit of a pickle you have to do something to try to resolve it. I said "Look, let's go back, get the iron, we'll work all night. Let's just do it! We can do it!"
I was then told to go back, and what you didn't see is that I had put together a list and I explained to every single person in the team how the list worked and whose clothes were whose. That was completely forgotten. Sir Alan said, "You left and that caused mayhem." There was mayhem to begin with! I tried to bring structure to the launderette and then I left and there was mayhem again. So, that shows just how instrumental I was and what my contribution was.
So who should have been fired instead?
Well, I actually think Helene should have been called to the boardroom and not myself because she's a global pricing leader for an international company and we lost because of the task where we had to go and win commercial clients. That was a big job, £200-worth, potentially, and Jenny said let's just charge £4.99 for everything - well, a pillowcase only costs £2! If Helene was as good a pricing leader as she makes out to be, she would have realised that that's wrong.
But Jenny didn't allocate the tasks to the right people and I think that's because it was a butt-covering exercise. From the moment she became project manager, I think it was a case of "Who am I going to use, should I fail, in the boardroom?" She took a complete and utter dislike to Lucinda from minute one, so we didn't function as a team, there was bad morale - it was almost like we were working individually to try to keep ourselves out of the boardroom.
Was the way the programme portrayed you fair?
It made out that after I'd tried my best in the task, I went to the boardroom and just crumbled. Well, I didn't. That was a two-hour session. And for as long as Jenny was saying that I wasn't good enough, I was saying I was, and asking her about what she did wrong, but you don't really see that. I've been in that kind of situation before and I know how to hold my own, and I did that.
What did you think of Sir Alan? Is he as scary as he's made out to be?
You see him like we do. I didn't have an opportunity to see him outside the boardroom. Yes, he may make a joke or two because he gets his words wrong and has to repeat them but that's it. He's a gentleman at the end of the day, though, and very successful. Has my opinion of him changed? Not really, I just think he made a mistake on the day.
Have you enjoyed the experience?
I actually went on The Apprentice for one purpose only, and that was because Sir Alan was offering a contract for a year so that he could train people to be successful like him. I've got two Masters degrees and I continually want to learn, so if someone's prepared to teach, of course I'm gonna grab the opportunity with both hands. It was in an area I wanted to go into in terms of my own business, so it was a very good experience. It just ended, I think, badly!
Who has what it takes to win?
Well, Raef came up trumps. Actually, my opinion of the boys has changed because they really did enjoy the task and if they continue to work the way they have been, they'll go a long way.
But because it's a really stressful situation to be in, really high pressure, we're all in the same position - everybody wants the job and everybody's having to fight for it, so no-one can say this person deserves it more. We're all working to the best of our ability to get the job done.
What about Lucinda?
She's got one additional obstacle to overcome. We're trying to prove to Sir Alan that we're good enough for the job, we're trying to prove to Nick and Margaret that we've got what it takes, but now that I'm out, Lucinda has to prove to her team-mates that she shouldn't be used as a scapegoat. For that reason, she's having to work twice as hard so I think I'm going to be rooting for Lucinda.
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