"It’s taken the shine off": Fired Apprentice candidate Jemelin Artigas has her say on the Lottie Lion racism scandal
Jemelin has described the attention the furore has received as “unfair”
It seems there’s no love lost between Apprentice candidate Lottie Lion and fired candidate Jemelin Artigas.
The 35-year-old, who was sent packing by Lord Sugar in the advertising task, had a Twitter spat with Lion after she allegedly told fellow candidate Lubna Farhan “shut up Gandhi” in a WhatsApp group.
After Lion said she was the only candidate to know when World War Two started and finished, Artigas said: “[Also] very important to teach your kids about racial equality and how to be a kind human being a lot more important then this.”
But when quizzed by RadioTimes.com on whether the pair had managed to make up off-camera, Artigas was dismissive, saying the attention Lion has received is “unfair.”
“I don’t think there’s anything to sort out there,” she said. “I think it’s really unfair – it’s taking the shine away.
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“You’ve got 16 candidates there who give up so much, and the shine has been taken away from them to deal with this.
"I’m always going to speak my mind, that’s who I am. I’d rather speak about other candidates as I’m bored of it now.”
The BBC later condemned the remarks as “wholly unacceptable”, while production company Boundless told RadioTimes.com: “Appropriate action is being taken and that is a matter between the production company and individual concerned."
Lion has since denied any accusations of racism, writing on Twitter: “Do not believe everything you read online.
“Racism is unacceptable but so is false news. I won’t be entertaining this further.”
Artigas added that she did feel that Lion, alongside candidate Ryan-Mark Parsons were brave to enter the show while still quite young.
“Well done to them, you have to have balls to go on a show like this at 19,” she said.
“But on the other hand, I felt they were just too young, they wouldn’t last a minute in the business world yet, they’re getting there.
“I’m 35 and it’s taken me 17 years to be able to deal with situations I deal with now. I just feel like it’s a tough environment.”
The Apprentice continues Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC One
