Fired 'Apprentice' candidate Q&A: 'I wanted the earth to eat me up'

Bilyana Apostolova bit off more than she could chew in Lord Sugar's boardroom and the Bulgarian big-mouth quickly became the first candidate axed from the series on Wednesday night (March 21).

But did Lord Sugar make the right decision axing the 25-year-old rollerblade-loving risk analyst? Digital Spy spoke to Bilyana outside the boardroom to get her verdict.


Did Lord Sugar get it right? Did he make the right decision?
"I don't think he did, on the grounds that I don't think I failed the task. And certainly the panel in You're Hired didn't think so. And the audience were very sweet and thought I should have stayed. He took the decision on an impulsive note. On irritation rather than logic."

Do you think it was the constant jabbering in the boardroom that cost you your place?
"Absolutely, I really think I talked myself out of the process. The reason why I kept begging him to leave me was because I didn't pick up he was actually going to fire Katie. Previously, he's said candidates should speak up for themselves, right until the end. I'm a big fan of the programme and had really brushed up on watching previous boardrooms. Based on previous episodes, he's said 'actually you know what, you're fighting for yourself, I like that, I'm leaving you, you're saved' and I was just going for that effect. I was so stressed out I didn't pick up that I wasn't threatened at that point in time."

He did say he didn't want people hiding and being quiet - did he go back on his word?
"Yes I did think that was quite unusual for him... in the end I deposed myself. There's no point in criticising the man behind eight series of the show, he knows best surely, right?

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Who should have gone?
"I think Gabrielle should have gone really for a number of reasons. We needed to take so many decisions in such short notice and she wasn't decisive enough and that kept showing throughout the task especially in the second day where she, someone who's been in printing and the creative industry kept holding us back because she wanted to personalise items before we went to the zoo.

"Now, English is my second language but personalisation comes from a person. We can't personalise things without the customer. Let's just go and throw ourselves in. You will be pushing for the personalise thing but we needed to just sell on the ground. Just little things like that; she wasn't decisive enough for someone on a first task."

We saw your aggressive sales style - did you possibly go too far?
"That was very ironic to watch actually. I went to London Zoo to try and save the day, leaving myself totally exposed by changing sub-teams, which didn't do wonders for my bonding. At the time you see the girls whispering behind my back nobody confronted me face to face. If you watch the episode closely you'll see me telling them guys to calm down because they're selling baby clothes. But you have to watch carefully and pick up on my words.

"What was happening was I was trying to seal a sale with Jane, who pushed for London Zoo initially, she pushed for baby clothes and she pushed for being the forefront of her team. She was self-proclaimed project manager of the sub team on the grounds that she's a mother and knows how to connect with mothers and sell to them. It's a real shame, because someone from work watched it and they said it was totally not me, but there was a lot more material to be shown. I'm such a balanced person; it's incredible that I come across like that."


Were you embarrassed to watch the scene where you all shout at the shopkeeper?
"I was embarrassed right there and then, I wanted the earth to eat me up. Because I led them to the store, I opened up with, 'Good afternoon madam, I used to live here and now we've set up our own business and we have our product' and then Jenna started behaving like a, well I don't even know what word to use, then everyone else started shouting. I'm not saying I didn't partake in it but all of a sudden it became out of control.

"I could see the woman blushing and it was unprofessional to confront the other girls in front of the customer and then the way Jenna just said, 'Come on guys, we're just wasting time on her', was just so unprofessional. I'd not like to be associated with that episode, within the episode at all."

You claimed to know your way around London Zoo and Camden. Do you really or were you guessing?
"No, no, I definitely wasn't guessing, I did know the area really well that's why I favoured Primrose Hill over Camden and, I'm not sure if you saw You're Hired, but I made a little joke there that there aren't that many kids stores in Camden. There were three baby boutiques, three independent stores in Primrose Hill that were perfectly targeted for quality goods. It would have done really well with the yummy mummies in the area.

"We had our chance - we ran out of time after that first store where we antagonised the client. There were many ways to get to Primrose Hill, either the bridge directly opposite you or the Millennium Bridge, it doesn't matter what route you take."


You weren't in it very long but who has talent and who's going to be annoying?
"Jade stood out for me as someone I'd like to see in the next episode. She managed to find common language with absolutely everyone on the team. Which I found incredible because we were such different characters.

"The one I think will really annoy the others, I'm torn between Jane and Jenna but probably Jenna because I didn't see that much of her. She yaps away a lot. She said something about organic cotton coming from organic sheep. I could see her really irritating people. But also Jane because she's very incredible at what she does. She has her own business. She must be very capable but she needs to learn to listen to the others."

Do you regret emphasising your hard upbringing so much? Lord Sugar never likes a sob story...
"In hindsight I did but there was a very clear reason why I did it. He has my CV and he could see I'd just come back from the trading floor in Hong Kong where I worked for six months. Clearly I'm doing very well to be there. What I wanted to emphasis was that I was showing entrepreneurial qualities very early on. That at 17 arriving from Bulgaria at a traditional boarding school and being so adaptable and tactful not only did I get my scholarship extended but also being appointed to lead the school... that shows a lot.

"And to me, that shows an achievement although you can't put it in monetary terms. In the long run, no matter how wealthy I become, it will always be something I'm most proud of and it gave me the most fulfilment. It's a shame he couldn't pick up on that. I did have a different story and I've shown entrepreneurial qualities that you would use in business. I wouldn't have said it in that way again, I would have explained it in the way I explained it now."

The Apprentice continues on Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC One