Reality TV
How's life been since the show aired on Wednesday?
“It’s been unbelievable! Every newspaper and every radio station seems to be obsessed with (The Apprentice) this series. It’s really good to see myself in all the papers! You look at what happened and you have to decide whether you’ve got any regrets and, looking at what happened, I have no regrets. You’ve just got to push forward.”
How disappointed are you to have been voted off the show first?
“It’s terrible. I’d given up my job and I’d sort of given up my life. I’d said to my wife Rachel and my three boys that I might be away for a couple of months and I’d packed my bags and travelled 400 miles and really given everything for it.”
Do you have any regrets over your time on the show?
“You know what? Hindsight’s a great thing, but I’ve absolutely no regrets about being there – I’d got myself down from 10,000 people to 16 and the 16 people there have all been rubber-stamped by Sir Alan Sugar. He's looked at my CV and said, ‘Yes I want him on the show’. To have that is incredible. If someone as shrewd and successful as Sir Alan thinks you’ve got a one in 16 chance of coming to work for him, you’ve got to take it as a compliment.”
Who do you blame for losing the task?
“Well, it’s got to be Sophie. I’ve seen it twice now and the more I look at it, the more I feel that I’ve been well and truly stitched up by Sophie. I told her what to buy and she went and bought the wrong thing; I told her what to do and she went and did something else. As much as it looked as though I wasn’t in control of the costs, I gave direct instructions relating to the costs and she did what she wanted. She’s a quantum physicist but there must be room for some common sense too. Even a quantum physicist knows that 200 litres of milk is enough for someone to bath in!”
Did your team get on as well as it seemed?
“The atmosphere was very cordial but the two people that I bonded with least were Sophie and Gerri and unfortunately that’s what brought me down. I blame the switch of project leaders – if I’d been allowed to stay with the guys I’d still be flying.”
Sir Alan says he's worked hard to sniff out contestants who are only on the show to become celebrities. Do you think any fame-seekers have managed to slip through the net?
“Obviously there’s Tre! He’s either very, very clever or very, very stupid – one or the other. I think he’s clever. He’s gone in straight away and he’s got himself a contingency plan. If he doesn’t last the course – if Sir Alan doesn’t give him the job – the amount of publicity that the company’s he’s come from is getting will be massive. They’re going to take him back with open arms! The surprising thing for me, coming from Scotland, is how large London salaries are. £100,000 is footballers’ wages up north but the majority of people on this show are all earning over that. They’re all super successful, so you have to question their motives. Maybe their motive is that they want to work for Sir Alan, but if I was earning over £100,000 a year and I had my own business and my destiny in my own hands I’d be fairly content!”
Is Sir Alan as scary as he seems?
“You know what? He’s very intimidating – he could walk into a football stadium and his presence would fill it. He’s not a tall man but he’s got so much about him that he just fills the room. But, you know, it’s very easy to be intimidated if you let yourself.”
What's the atmosphere like in the house where all the contestants live?
“The first day everyone was so friendly and then it just turned. You knew straight away whenever someone had said something that had upset somebody. Suddenly all the guys were puffing their chests out and all the girls were at each others’ throats. The boys were having competitions to see who could wee up the wall the farthest! It was really bizarre, but I tried to keep myself out of that because I don’t believe in that.”
Obviously it's very early on, but who do you think will do well on the show?
“Do you know what, I think Tre will do really, really well. He’s so focused on winning – you saw that in the first episode – but he’s made so many enemies."
Are you aware of Sir Alan's assistants, Margaret Mountford and Nick Hewer, following you around?
“You are, yes. But you’re only aware when you suddenly see them. You’ll look again and they’re gone so they’re very spooky. They duck in, maybe give you a bit of advice, and then they’re gone.”
Does Sir Alan send anyone else to observe you?
“No, they’re the only two people there. They’re his eyes and ears.”
The second episode of The Apprentice airs on Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One.
More: Reality TV, The Apprentice
