'Apprentice' reject receives death threats

Apprentice star Nicholas De Lacy Brown has received death threats from fans of the show.

The trainee barrister was the first contestant to be fired by Sir Alan Sugar when the BBC One series returned on Wednesday night.

Nicholas, who was branded a "toff" by Sir Alan, had boasted about his academic achievements but made crucial mistakes on a fish-selling challenge by offering lobster for just £5 and mislabelling products.

"People have sent me messages saying they want to kill or injure me," Nicholas told the Daily Star Sunday. "One read something like: 'If I see you, I'll hurt you'."

However, Nicholas has remained defiant and insisted that he will not be affected by the threatening messages.

"The abuse I have had does not bother me," he said. "I have had some supportive emails too. I take it all as a compliment. They think they can push me down with this abuse but all it does is pump me up. I realised soon after the show started that it was not for me - it was just such hard work.

"Now my ego is bigger since I went on The Apprentice because of all the attention. In fact, my ego is huge now."