Kimberly Davis ('The Apprentice)

On this week's Apprentice, Team Ignite floundered on a marketing campaign challenge with their Pants Man 'Wake Up Call' cereal. Lead by New York-born Kimberly Davis, the team were scuppered by in-fighting between Lorraine Tighe and Phillip Taylor and a TV advert that Sir Alan Sugar described bluntly as "stupid". When it came to decision time, Sir Alan pointed the finger at the 33-year-old project manager, gifting Tighe and Taylor a second chance. Was it the right call? We gave the "rough tough cream puff" a call to find out

Who do you think was to blame for your failure on this week's task?
"Phillip and Lorraine were equally to blame for this week's task failure because the problems primarily came from the issues between the two of them. I don't think I deserved to get fired, but I can see why Sir Alan would be concerned by me."

What are the roots behind these rows between Phillip and Lorraine?
"What happened was that from day one in the house there were several people that took a disliking to Lorraine. I then took her under my wing and was very protective of her. On several occasions, I was told by other candidates such as Phillip, 'Don't be friends with her'. I mean, I found it quite shocking in the third episode that Phillip turned around and defended her in the boardroom. I just thought, 'What? No one dislikes her more than you do!' I found that really quite shocking. In the next episode he got pretty aggressive with Lorraine, so that's why I got aggressive with him."

So you must have realised that they were going to cause problems for you from the start?
"Yeah. So when it was my task, I wanted to keep all these things in check and not lose my cool. Unfortunately, Lorraine turned to me before the task and said, 'I think I'm going start fighting back'. I said, 'You should because I won't always be there to defend you'. Somehow that translated into eight full-fledged screaming matches with everyone in the team. This wasn't just bickering and it was extremely disruptive."

Because of your friendship with Lorraine did that make it harder for you to battle her in the boardroom?
"When she came in the boardroom and started speaking against me, it really took me by surprise. I scuppered my own task to try and protect her and even then she still turned on me. She is a bit of Judas to me and that's why you see me speaking so passionately to her in the boardroom."

Sir Alan said that you should have won the task because of your marketing background. Were you embarrassed that you failed on a task in your specialised area?
"Yes, this is definitely the biggest humiliation of my entire career and quite possibly my life. I was devastated because I was prepared mentally for absolutely everything with this show. The one thing I hadn't banked on was me being able to do my own job properly. I was really devastated. At the last minute I had a great idea, which would have run the other team for their money, but by then it was too late. I wanted to call it Cosmic Clusters and would have used the tag line "it's out of this world". There would have been an alien and a space theme, but that was all too little, too late."

What do you make of Phillip as a candidate? He's gone up and down in many people's estimations.
"I think Phillip brings a lot of energy, which is good, and he brings a lot of passion. But that is completely taken away by his lack of professionalism and his inability to take on any criticism or responsibility. Unfortunately, for every two steps Phillip takes forward, he then makes five steps backwards."

On your CV it says that you are a strong believer in Karma. Do you think Phillip and Lorraine will get their just desserts later in the series?
"Absolutely. When I took Lorraine and Phillip in the boardroom, I knew it was the road less travelled and it would be an uphill battle. If I was strategic about it, I would have brought different people in the boardroom. But I asked myself, 'who really prevented me from winning that task?' It was Phillip and Lorraine. I believe that someone had to pierce the armour and I think Sir Alan is a smart man who will soon come to see the truth."

In the first episode you described yourself as a "rough tough cream puff". What on earth does that mean?
"Rough tough cream puff! Ha-ha, it means that I can be really tough and stand up for myself, as you saw at various points on the show, but at the same time I'm really quite sweet and delicate. I can be quite feminine and still be strong in the workplace. I don't feel the need to be a b*tch, horrible or hard-edged to get ahead of people. You can be very, very nice and very, very strong at the same time."

Thanks for your time Kimberly!
"Thank you! I've been following your website quite religiously during this whole thing. It's been a Mecca of information for me! The people on the forums have been very, very nice to me, so thanks!"

The Apprentice continues at 9pm next Wednesday on BBC One.