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What are your feelings about The Apprentice one year on?
"After a year, I feel happy now that it's over and I'm pleased for the new contestants that are going on the show. I love Sir Alan Sugar, I love Nick and Margaret and I love all the production team. I just hope that it does really well this time. Some people are worried that after five years the format may have got tired, but I don't think so. As long as they have interesting characters, it's still a great programme."
You were famed for your ability to tame Sir Alan Sugar. How did you manage it?
"I think Alan Sugar really appreciates people that have a sense of integrity, who are very honest and straight to the point. He doesn't like waffling, he doesn't like people who give him a load of bulls**t and waste his time. What I've been told is that he really enjoyed being in the boardroom with me. I gave just as good as I got. He sometimes pushes people to see how far he can make them go. On the way to the boardroom everyone claims that they are going to say this and say that, but when it comes down to it they're always too chicken. Sir Alan Sugar lives in this bubble world where not many people approach him because he's intimidating, so when someone does have conversation and disagrees with him, he finds that refreshing."
Did you struggle with the press intrusion that the show brought?
"I'm a self-confessed control freak and I feel the need to know what I'm doing and where I'm going. This sounds ridiculous because I applied to go on a TV show, but when the show starts and the media figure out who the characters are, the media start following you everywhere. To wake up and think, 'what phone call am I going to get today from the tabloids?', is quite unsettling. But that's a very small price to pay for what it actually gets you in the long run. Touch wood, so far the press have been very nice to me."
Many people would be surprised to hear you're friends with Michael Sophocles. What's he actually like?
"It was very much the power of the edit with Michael, because he's a very funny guy. Every episode, they have 150 hours of footage to pick from. Michael was very young, he'd only ever done one job, which was telesales, but he was earning £150K for doing it. The problem was that he'd only got a small amount of business experience compared to the rest of us. The whole kosher chicken thing - I don't think he'll ever shake that. I'm still very good friends with Lee, Michael and Raef. People have all gone off and done different things and anyone who's doing well out of the show deserves a pat on the back. I like to see people doing well rather than making sly little digs at them."
What's happened to your career since being fired by Sir Alan?
"Well, I turned down a job with Karen Brady at Birmingham City after leaving the show. I was very tempted to take the offer, but I thought if I didn't set up my own business after The Apprentice, it might never happen. So firstly, I set up a consultancy working for retailers that were struggling and then a month ago I launched a company called Elegant Venues, which works in the wedding industry. We work with private homes and properties that are struggling to get revenue from weddings. That's my new baby.
It doesn't sound like you've stopped!
"Yeah, too right! Last week I got back off holiday from Dubai, it was my first holiday since The Apprentice! I do five days a week of business work and two days of media. I do presenting for GMTV, Radio 2 and Radio 5 Live, where I talk about business. I also write a column for Glamour magazine. I've lost two and half stone because I realised how fat I got. I saw myself on TV and thought, 'Claire! stop eating cake and get down the gym'. And I do a lot of public speaking for the Government, schools and young people about working hard and teenagers in business. I'm also doing charity work for the Kids Company and Women's Aid."
Do you think in the long-run you came out better by not winning the show?
"I have a good relationship with Sir Alan Sugar. When he gave the job to Lee, he said that I would understand. Obviously as a competitive person, I was initially devastated because I'd given a year of my life to it. I do feel I got the toughest time on the show out of any candidate. I was in the boardroom more than anyone else on the series, it was like I had a season ticket. But the day after The Apprentice was over, I was happy to be back in control of my life. That's where The Apprentice really separates people. It's all about the people who pick themselves up after the series and make the right choices. I've had lots of opportunities like I'm A Celebrity... and shows like that, but it's about making the most of them and choosing the right strategy."
