Last night's episode of The Apprentice saw candidate Shama Amin make the difficult decision to leave the series due to the toll filming was having on her rheumatoid arthritis.

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Shama explained to Lord Alan Sugar how the chronic condition has been flaring up since taking part, despite the crew's efforts to accommodate her needs.

Now, one of her fellow The Apprentice 2022 candidates has spoken out about her exit, calling Shama "nothing but inspirational".

Speaking to RadioTimes.com and other press, Navid Sole said: "My darling Shama is such a lovely lady, a lovely woman. I'd say she's all about women empowerment. She's got the nicest heart anyone could ever imagine. And she's taught me so many skills as well, especially cooking because she taught me how to make a chicken curry and everyone enjoyed it."

He added: "She's a lovely soul and she's been nothing but inspirational.

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"I wouldn't ever imagine me and Shama being in the boardroom where we have to go against each other, because I couldn't do it, personally, because I'm not a person to throw people under the bus just for money. So I've got lots of respect for her and I hope obviously she gets well really soon."

Speaking about her exit, Shama explained, "There was a real build up to how bad I was feeling physically. The days are long but in task one, I was fine. At home, if my body needs to rest, I just know, I can put my feet up and rest. But obviously, I couldn’t do that in this situation.

"It was in task two where the swelling started to get worse, but I didn’t want to have to leave halfway through the task. I was determined to get through it, and I did. We then had a day off and I was struggling to get my shoes on and knew I was going to have to make a decision."

Though she revealed it wasn't an easy decision, she said that "not once did anyone ever make me feel guilty. Production offered me everything I could have asked for to help keep me in but always supported that it had to be my decision."

Additional reporting by Grace Henry.

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The Apprentice continues on BBC One at 9pm on Thursday 27th January. Check out more of our Entertainment coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.

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