'Apprentice' winner: 'Sugar is a tough man'

The winner of the first series of The Apprentice has said that Lord Alan Sugar is a "tough man".

Tim Campbell, 32, worked for Sugar for two years after his 2005 victory before founding a financial recruitment firm and the Bright Ideas Trust charity. He is also apprenticeships ambassador for the Mayor of London and is currently promoting Apprenticeship Week.

Talking about working for Sugar, Campbell told Metro: "He's a tough man. Some people say he's a pussycat - he's not. You don't get to where he got by letting people walk over you.

"You don't see the other side of him on The Apprentice though; he's a family man, he can be incredibly funny and he's incredibly generous - he's practically built the Hackney Empire and he's supported Great Ormond Street very well. I've got a lot of respect for him."

Asked why he turned his back on showbiz, he added: "The Apprentice gave me the opportunity to get a job and I'm glad I didn't sell my soul to the celebrity world.

"I support things that mean something to me, like this apprenticeship programme. The problem with the world of celebrity is it can be incredibly fickle."

Quizzed on whether he had been asked to go shows like I'm A Celebrity, Campbell said: "I got a couple of offers. If someone offers you £50,000 to spend two weeks making an idiot of yourself I can see why some people would go for it.

"I applied for The Apprentice because I believed I had a brain, which means I can earn £50,000 without having to question my integrity. The celebrity world is very short-termist, I was focused on the long-term ambition.

"That's why now I can represent campaigns and try to help young people with integrity - it wouldn't work if people had seen me eat bits of kangaroo."