The following is a
list of candidates from the
British
reality television series
The Apprentice. The
programme began in 2005 and the
fifth series started on 25
March 2009.
Candidates are listed alphabetically by series. Where a date of
birth is not provided, the age given is as of the time the relevant
series aired.
Series One
Lindsay Bogaard
Lindsay Bogaard, 1969 (formerly Gill) is an
organisational communication consultant and author from London. She
is the founder of the UK's first national car-sharing agency and
was a communications manager at the time of her appearance on
The Apprentice. She holds a BA and
postgraduate diplomas in
Broadcast Journalism and Internal
Communications Management. She says: "You must be honest with
yourself about where you're aiming to go and how you are competing
with others to get there." Lindsay is the first project manager to
be fired on the British edition of
The Apprentice. Since
appearing on
The Apprentice, Bogaard has gone on to found
her own company, Bogaard Arena, which specialises in organisational
change.
Timothy Campbell
Timothy "Tim" Campbell, a
Middlesex University graduate in
Psychology, worked as a transport manager
for the
London Underground before
applying for and winning the £100,000-a-year job on
The
Apprentice. After his victory he was given a role within the
health and beauty division of Sir Alan Sugar's company,
Amstrad. Campbell left the company in March 2007 and
is planning to launch the Bright Ideas Trust, which aims to give £1
million a year to new businesses and entrepreneurs.
Raj Dhonota
Raj Dhonota, aged 30, is an Internet entrepreneur
and former estate agency director. He claims to have no hobbies and
be totally focussed on business and says of himself "I'm an
entrepreneur, not an angel." Since appearing in
The
Apprentice, Dhonota has set up his own company which
outsources work from the UK to foreign countries through
offshoring. Alan Lambourne
Rachel Groves
Rachel Groves, aged 32 from London, is a
charity fundraiser and former advertising sales
executive. She has a BA in German and a Chartered Institute of
Management Advanced Certificate.
Groves, who once went spacehopping down Oxford
Street
dressed as a
baby (for charity), says: "I have incredible presence and am one of
those people who fills a room even when alone. I have an
infectious desire to live life to the full." After appearing on
The Apprentice, Groves has spent time writing a novel and
now works as the head of fundraising for the
Citizens Advice Bureau.
Saira Khan
Saira Khan (born 1970,
Long Eaton
, Derbyshire
, England)
was the runner-up on the series. Before applying for the
show, Khan worked as sales manager for an online recruitment
company. Her qualifications include a
BA in
Humanities
and an
MA in
environmental planning. She went on
to become a
TV presenter on BBC's
Temper Your
Temper and
Desi DNA while
hosting her own programme
Beat the
Boss. She is a columnist for the
Daily Mirror, a regular panelist for
BBC Radio Five Live and has
appeared on a number of other stations including
BBC Radio 4 and the
BBC Asian Network, as well as running her
own baby skincare company
Ben Leary
Ben Leary, 29, is the owner of a headhunting firm.
He was a recipient of the Global Consultant of the Year award prior
to appearing on
The Apprentice. Leary says "In my career I
win all the time, apart from when I lose!" He was the first person
in the show to manage a team for two successive weeks, leading his
team to victory in a charity auction task in Week 7, but then
losing a task to prepare foods and sell them at a market the
following week. Sir Alan decided that Leary had not really been a
big contributor to the victory the previous week, and had been
responsible for failing to control the team's costs in the current
week's task, and so fired him.
Adele Lock
Adele Lock is a 29-year-old
salon owner from Mere, Cheshire
. She
was a general manager in a retail company selling kitchens and
bathrooms before auditioning for
The Apprentice and has 7
O-levels and 1
A-level. She worked until 8:00 p.m. the
night before giving birth and even managed to sell a kitchen to her
midwife whilst in
labour. Of herself, she says "Some people call me
a
workaholic, but I just enjoy work with
a passion." Adele is the very first person to quit the British
edition of
The Apprentice. Since appearing on
The
Apprentice, Lock has set up her own male salon with
concessions around the country. She said of her time on the show,
"I've learned to listen more, not to be so dictatorial and I've
learned that your family is priceless".
James Max
James Max, 37, was an investment banker and
partner of a private equity firm prior to his appearance on
The
Apprentice.
He was educated at the independent St. Paul's School
in Barnes
, near
Hammersmith
in London,
and at the University of
Reading. He is a Chartered Surveyor and holds a
BSc in Land Management. He says, "I seek success as a
result of my own achievements." Since leaving the show, Max has
featured regularly in the media. He has been a columnist for
The Times Online and
written for
The Sunday
Times, presents three weekly shows on London's
LBC and presents the business update daily on
TalkSPORT alongside footballer
Ian Wright and
Adrian
Durham. He has also presented segments in E4's
Get Your Act
Together with
Harvey Goldsmith
as presented by
Ian Hyland, and alongside
Simon Amstell for
T4's
The Morning After Show. Like many other
candidates, James Max has undertaken numerous public speaking roles
around the country.
Adenike Ogundoyin
Adenike Ogundoyin, 30, runs
large events for corporate clients and owns and manages a restaurant in Nigeria
. Her
qualifications include a
BA in
Business Studies,
MA in
International Business and
MBA from
Pace University,
New York. She says: "I am a
entrepreneur by nature and it's all I know."
She was the first person ever to be fired from the show; she was
dismissed at the end of the first episode for being disrespectful
to project manager Saira Khan.
Matthew Palmer
Matthew Palmer, 39, has a BA in Business and
Computing and a postgraduate Diploma in Marketing and is from
London. His previous jobs include being a self-qualified
stockbroker and a computer trainer. A
Conservative Party parliamentary
candidate in the
2001 general election,
he claims "The objective of a business is not to make money. The
object of a business is to satisfy customers. The result is to make
money." Since losing in
The Apprentice, Palmer has set up
a website for those suffering from fertility-related
problems.
Miranda Rose
Miranda Rose, 26, is from
Nottingham
. Her
career has included being a managing director of an estate agency,
owning a successful mail order company and running her own
self-funded exhibitions company. She has a
BTEC National Diploma and a
GNVQ in
Leisure and
Tourism. Prior to appearing on
The
Apprentice, Rose was a contestant on
Wheel of Fortune and
also completed a
fire-walk over
25 feet of red hot embers. She says "I've got huge life
experience for my age, which is better than anything written on a
piece of paper."
Sebastian Schrimpff
Sebastian Schrimpff, (1975), Now runs a number of
photography related companies in Colombia.
He spent the first 16
years of his life in Colombia
. He
has a pilot's licence, a BSc in Natural Science and an MBA from
INSEAD. He claims his interests are,
skiing,
tennis and Flying "
Miriam Staley
Miriam Staley (born 1978 in
Oxford
, England) is
a former hotel manager from Saint Martin
in the
French West Indies. She
has a
BA in French and Spanish and
enjoys
underwater diving with
sharks. She says: "I don't know all the
classic business theories or have the 'pat' answers – my experience
comes from what I've directly learnt in the field. I bring a unique
experience as I've lived in four different countries and am
bilingual." Sir Alan said after firing her
that he thought he may have made the wrong choice.
Since her appearance
in The Apprentice, she has moved back to the UK and
currently lives with her husband in The
Docklands
,
London.
Paul Torrisi
Paolo Roberto Torrisi, known as
Paul
Torrisi (born 25 April 1970), was a property developer
prior to appearing on
The Apprentice. His qualifications
include
O-levels and a
systems analysis certificate. Despite being
fired in week 11, Torrisi was offered a job by
Sir Alan Sugar, working with his son Daniel
for his private jet company Amsair. He turned down the job on Sir
Alan's advice and has since been focusing on a career in the
media.Since leaving the show, Torrisi has gone on to make
appearances on
Grandstand,
BBC Breakfast,
Bargain Hunt,
Confessions Of An Estate
Agent, T4 and
Look North,
as well as spin-off show
The Apprentice: You're Fired! and
BBC Radio. He also presents
Property
Prophets on
UKTV Style and
UKTV Bright Ideas.
Series Two
Syed Ahmed
Nargis Ara
Nargis Ara (born
1967,
Bangladesh) has an honours
degree in
pharmacy and is a
PhD
student. She was the most highly educated of all the contestants,
although her experience lay mainly in pharmaceutical research. She
was fired in week 2 after deciding to use cats as the theme for a
children's charity calendar and displaying poor sales skills during
the task. It has since been revealed by contestant Alexa Tilley
that the team were given no choice in this matter, a fact that was
not revealed to the television audience.
Ruth Badger
Ruth Badger (born 1978) implies that she has 3
GCSEs (in week 11 she stated that she and Michelle had 5 GCSEs and
no degrees between them, and that this demonstrates how they are
self-made). She was previously employed as a sales manager. Badger
was the runner-up, reaching the final. Badger had her own programme
called Badger or Bust.
Karen Bremner
Karen Bremner (born 6 November 1971) obtained a
diploma in legal practice and a
Bachelor of Laws degree and was previously
employed as a
lawyer. She was born in Canada.
Bremner was considered to be the shock firing of this series when
she was dismissed in Episode 3 with the line "I don't need another
corporate lawyer." Bremner had a number of radio and television
appearances and was the business correspondent for Scottish talk
radio station Talk107. Bremner now owns a boutique, karenB, based
in Broughty Ferry in Scotland, for which she has won a Young
Entrepreneurial Company of the Year award.
Jo Cameron
Jo Cameron was previously self-employed, and prior
to that had worked at specialising in improving the position of
women in male-dominated industries. She also has a career as a
professional speaker and is a regular media commentator. In 2008,
she was the winner of a special charity edition of
The Weakest Link, featuring previous
candidates of
The Apprentice. She beat Series 3 candidate
Kristina Grimes in the final round, after only one question was
answered correctly between the two of them.
Michelle Dewberry
Michelle Dewberry has two
GCSEs as well as professional qualifications.
She
currently lives in London but her roots are in Hull
. From her first job working the checkouts in
Kwik Save, she rose through the business
ranks in various different firms to become a global project
manager. She claimed to already earn the £100,000 salary offered by
the show from her consultancy in telecommunications
offshoring, and said that she wanted to become
Sir Alan's apprentice for the experience rather than the
money.
Dewberry went on to win the series, beating rival Ruth Badger in
the final. Dewberry's first assignment for Sir Alan was to launch
Xenon Green, a business that disposes of unwanted computer
equipment. However, she and Sir Alan parted company in September
2006.She had a romantic relationship with fellow contestant Syed
Ahmed and became pregnant by him. In August 2006 they lost the
baby, who died before birth.
Ansell Henry
Ansell Henry left school at the age of 16 to join
Millwall F.C. and was on their books
as a professional
footballer.
However, injury cut short his career and he found employment as a
door-to-door salesman.
He was born in South London but currently
lives in Brighton
. He
says that he is a good all-rounder and gets on well with people. As
one of the least educated contestants he joined the competition for
a challenge. On the show Ansell gained a reputation as a "nice
guy", reaching the final three before being dismissed.
Samuel Judah
Samuel Judah has a
degree in
manufacturing engineering and his
previous employment was as a product developer. Before appearing on
The Apprentice he spent 11 years working for the Ford
Motor Company. His self-description states that he is "demanding
and domineering but the results are what count".
Tuan Le
Tuan Le (generally pronounced
Dun) was
born 11 January 1979. He has 9 GCSEs and 2 A Levels, and before the
show worked as a
financial
advisor. He had previously worked for the
Nationwide Building Society,
eventually becoming a
financial
consultant, and as a lacer for Clarks Shoes.
Sharon McAllister
Sharon McAllister (born 1 June 1975) has a BA in
Corporate Communication and worked previously as a business
lecturer. On March 5, 2008 Sharon launched sit1.tv, Scotland's
first Internet television station.
McAllister is known around the Stirling
area for
once dating local celebrity and D.J. Stuart Chalmers. She
was also well known for her stylish outfits and would regularly
wear tight figure-hugging leather trousers which made her a real
style icon.
Mani Sandher
Mani Sandher has a BSc in
physics and was previously employed as a
management consultant. He lives in
London and admits that he "can be a perfectionist". He has set up
two profitable businesses although he is now a
silent partner in one of them.
Ben Stanberry
Ben Stanberry was educated
at the Salesian
College
in Hampshire, has bachelor's and master's degrees
in law and worked previously as an academic at Cardiff
University
and as a management consultant. Prior to
appearing on the show, Ben had successfully battled advanced
colorectal cancer, from which he'd
been given only a 30% chance of survival.
After appearing on
the show he went on to become the commercial and legal director of
a healthcare company and was elected as a
Conservative councillor, representing Barnes in
the London Borough of
Richmond-upon-Thames
.
He is
presently studying for an Executive
MBA at the world-ranked Henley Business
School
alongside Series Four finalist Helene Speight.
Alexa Tilley
Alexa Tilley was born in London on 22 September
1977 and prior to the show was a
management consultant. She entered the
contest for the business opportunity and the chance to learn from
Alan Sugar.
Although Alexa has a BA in economics
from Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge
, she was most notable for her failings in the
economics of a successful pizza business.
Paul Tulip
Paul Tulip (born 1 October 1979) has a
degree in
Business
and
Sport and had a career as a head hunter.
Paul got through to the interview stage, winning seven of the ten
tasks he was involved in (more than anyone else that series) and
was the only person in the second series to win two tasks as
project manager. Despite this, Paul was described as "arrogant" and
"cocky" by the interviewers, leading to Sir Alan firing Paul almost
instantly when it came to deciding who to put through to the
final.
Series Three
Simon Ambrose
Simon Ambrose was educated
at the independent Westminster
School
before gaining an MA in Economics at Magdalene College, Cambridge
, graduating with a double first. It is
reported that Simon became a member of
Mensa
at age 13 with an
IQ of 174. He describes himself
as "sexy, competitive, proud and ambitious" who does "his best work
under pressure". Since being made redundant from the
Investment Bank Credit Suisse, he has tried his hand at a
number of internet-based entrepreneurial ideas. Percy Ambrose, his
paternal grandfather, is a jeweller and self-made millionaire. His
father, Russell Ambrose, has many business interests with an annual
turnover of £50 million. Ambrose was the winner of series 3.
Ghazal Asif
Ghazal Asif, a 23-year-old Glaswegian, was the
youngest candidate in the series; indeed her age proved to be a
cause of concern to Sir Alan. She speaks five languages and planned
to establish her own business in fashion if she did not win the
programme. Her ambition is to be a millionaire by the time she's
30. She was fired in week 8. Ghazal Asif has now launched her
fashion clothing label, Ghazals Couture.
Tre Azam
Tre Azam was born on August 15, 1979. He is second
in a family of seven and is described as "forthright, opinionated
and a bit of a maverick". He started work aged 10, building PCs in
his father's factory. He worked in various countries in Europe and
Asia before running his family company's US operations.In his spare
time, Azam enjoys kickboxing, martial arts and philosophy.He was
once involved in a
car crash in France,
after falling asleep at the wheel, which left him in a
wheelchair for nine months. Although he has metal
plates in his spine and legs he walks without difficulty. He is
married with a son called Ayaan.
During his time on
The Apprentice, Azam was in the winning
team in 8 out of 11 tasks, excluding the interview challenge but
including the finale (in which he returned to work on one of the
finalists' teams). This was more than any other candidate in any
series of
The Apprentice (both in number as well as
proportion of the total number of tasks). He attacked the programme
for editing him badly, claiming that his character had been "dumbed
down".
Azam appeared on
Big
Brother's Big Mouth and was on the green carpet for the
IIFA Awards 2007, that took place in Britain.Azam has posted videos
of his opinions on popular video website
YouTube and had a column on
The Apprentice
website, commenting on the series 4 episodes. He criticised many of
the series 4 contestants as lacking business acumen or integrity.
Azam is also a popular after-dinner speaker, and in July 2008 spoke
at an event in the Isle of Man for the Junior Chamber of Commerce
on the Isle of Man.In November 2008 Azam was found guilty of
falsely claiming thousands of pounds of state paid benefits and was
ordered to serve 80 hours of community service and costs of nearly
£7000.
Gerri Blackwood
Gerri Blackwood was offered
a job with MI5
on the same
day as she found out her application for The Apprentice
was successful. The 33-year-old says "It's easy to have
confidence when you are a big fish in your own pond, but to
suddenly be thrown into a sea of sharks you have a bit of a reality
check".
After her final episode was shown on television, Blackwood told
The Daily Star
that the female members of the show were forced to
shower together. The article also claimed that Nick
Hewer and Margaret Mountford fed the candidates misleading
information so they would fail the tasks and that Sir Alan Sugar's
rants were re-filmed to make them look better.
Paul Callaghan
Paul Callaghan was educated
at the independent King Edward VI
School
in Southampton
in Southern
England. He was an artillery officer who saw active service
in Iraq, and ended his service as a
Lieutenant. He said: "My lack of commercial
experience might be a weakness but my leadership and organisational
qualities are definite strengths". This was disproved by his
performance as project manager in week 6, and he was fired for
being "a total shambles". He had a close relationship with fellow
candidate Katie Hopkins during the show.
Ifti Chaudhri
Ifti Chaudhri built his successful tile business
from scratch, has ambitions of owning his own leisure centre and is
currently applying to join the
Tae Kwon
Do team for the 2012 Olympics. "When you can break bricks with
your hands you believe in your head you can do anything, and in
business I take on the same ethic," he says. He left the show in
the second week after telling Sir Alan that he was missing his
family.
Kristina Grimes
Kristina Grimes (born 31
October 1970) is a 37-year-old businesswoman from Julianstown
, County Meath
,
Ireland. Before appearing on
The Apprentice she
worked as pharmaceuticals manager. She reached the final of the
competition and finished runner-up to
Simon Ambrose. This was widely regarded as a
surprise, as Grimes had been considered the bookmakers' hot
favourite to be hired by Sir Alan. Grimes was promoted to the final
when original finalist
Katie Hopkins,
with whom she had a personal conflict, pulled out.
Grimes
gave birth to a son, Graeme Grimes, at the age of 17 whilst living
in the Republic of Ireland
. Of her pregnancy, she has said: "At the
time I had my son, girls were sent away to hide their pregnancy.
Once they gave birth, they gave up their babies and went back as if
they had never been
pregnant. I was the
only one who kept my child. In my mind I felt I had to live by my
mistakes; not that I felt Graeme was a mistake." She went on to
achieve a degree in
mathematics.
After leaving
The Apprentice, Grimes received 140 job
offers.
She chose to become the investment sales
director with Isle of Man
-based
property company Dandara. Subsequently, Grimes has founded
The KGJC Partnership with former
Apprentice contestant
Jenny Celerier. The company promotes
excellence in business performance.
She currently lives in Harrogate
whilst her
son Graeme is attending university in Durham
.
Katie Hopkins
Born to
Roy and Anona Hopkins in 1976, Katie Hopkins was
sponsored through university by the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst
and claims she can "out press-up" most men.
Her goal is "to be CEO of a large global brand builder by 40".
She is a
single parent from Devon
with two
daughters. She claimedto be the highest paid candidate on
£90,000 a year (a claim since denied by her ex-employers, who
dismissed her after the series was aired), and is a partner in her
ex-husband's brand-building firm.
Hopkins became memorable on the programme for her amusing comments
to camera about other contestants. These included calling
Naomi Lay a dog, and making fun of
Adam Hosker's
North
England background. She also mocked the choice of clothes and
fondness for fake tan of fellow candidate
Kristina Grimes.
She hit the headlines as part of the first on-screen romantic
relationship to feature on
The Apprentice, with fellow
candidate Paul Callaghan.
Hopkins has become something of a pantomime villain since her time
on the programme, especially on
internet
forums, although Sir Alan Sugar has come to her defence.She was
also mocked on
The Friday
Night Project in their "Friday night news" segment. They
reported on how Katie Hopkins had "got the sack", referring to her
being sacked from her job because of details of her private life
which were revealed in the tabloids. Show host
Alan Carr commented on this, saying "Normally when
Katie gets the sack she grabs it in her right hand and rams it down
her throat". Hopkins herself appeared on the show the next week,
only to be met with heavy booing from the audience. Carr also told
her that she should learn not to "put out" on a first date.
Hopkins was a contestant on
I'm a
Celebrity... Get Me Out of
Here! in 2007.
Adam Hosker
Adam Hosker was born on a
council estate in Blackburn
,
Lancashire. He has an ambition to run an internationally
successful company after being one of only a small number of
students from his comprehensive school to graduate University. He
graduated in Sport Management. He claims to earn three times the
average wage of the kids he went to school with. He says "My
strengths and my weaknesses are often the same thing – on occasion
my confidence can come across as arrogance to those who don't know
me."
There was controversy surrounding Hosker's exit from the show
following a "North–South" rift with a number of the other
contestants, particularly Katie Hopkins and Paul Callaghan. Hosker
is now a Director in a North West-based I.T. Company (I.T. Team
Solutions, according to the North West News) after leaving his
position as a Sales Manager in a car dealership. An article in a
local North West newspaper stated that he is involved in the design
of Sport Management Software for use in elite sport.
His only regular
public appearance was as a match presenter at Blackburn Rovers
where he was seen making the half-time announcements on the pitch,
although he has now relinquished this role.
Andy Jackson
Andy Jackson, a 36-year-old car salesman, is a
father of three. His hobbies include playing online poker, buying
and selling cars, and trading on
eBay. "My
passions are winning, winning and winning," Jackson says.
Ironically, he was the first contestant to leave the series. In one
of the show's trailers, Jackson was quoted as saying "We work till
we bleed" while holding a group hug of the boys' team. This is one
of the famous quotes from the show.
Jadine Johnson
Jadine Johnson won a place at university but quit
to support her daughter. She moved into banking and was promoted
three times in her first year. It was quoted by a reporter in the
The Sun newspaper that
"Jadine enjoys cooking, and debating in her spare time as well as
cleaning".
The Sun and
mental health
charity Mind criticised the programme for enrolling
Jadine, who had been sectioned under the
Mental Health Act in 2003. A
spokesperson from the BBC, however, said "As a
part of the selection process, all candidates are seen by an
independent qualified psychologist to assess their suitability for
participating in the programme."Jadine was fired in episode nine of
the series owing to her emotional problems due to being separated
from her family for so long. Sir Alan spoke highly of her
afterwards though, and suggested that she might even have gone on
to win the series, had it not been for her forced exit.
Sophie Kain
Sophie Kain has a PhD in Theoretical Physics. She
works as a research scientist for an aviation and shipping design
company. Kain commented "I can understand the technical side of
things but also have vision."
Lohit Kalburgi
Lohit Kalburgi, 25, was born in the United Arab
Emirates (his parents are of Indian origin) and has been a resident
of five different countries. Starting his first company at 16, he
says "I would like people to see me as the nice guy. My game plan
is to be myself and get on with things". Kalburgi lasted until Week
11, when he became the first candidate to be fired as a result of
the interviews – although he had a narrow escape in Week 9 when Sir
Alan thought he most deserved to be fired, but let Jadine go as he
felt she was suffering from stress too much to continue. He is the
first openly gay UK
Apprentice candidate. After leaving
the show Kalburgi launched his own company, PashFash, a new men's
fashion label, during London Fashion Week 2007. He is currently a
design consultant for
BT Retail in
London.
Rory Laing
Rory Laing, 29, was born the youngest of three
boys and brought up near Dublin, Ireland. His family moved to
England when he was aged 5.
He was educated at the independent Malvern College
and
graduated from Ravensbourne College with a Degree in Product Design
and then the University of
Bristol
with an Msc in Entrepreneurship. He had
employed over 400 staff across his three previous companies. These
companies were all operating in the events industry, predominately
supplying staff to large summer events like
Henley Royal Regatta and
Royal Ascot.
He stepped up as project manager on a design task in the second
week, and was noted for his insistence on absolute discipline,
including ordering his team-members to take off their blazers while
he kept his on in order to clearly show who was in charge. The same
task also saw a memorable exchange between him and Tre Azam, with
Laing arguing that he was the team's "boss," and Azam replying that
he was only the project manager, eventually ending in Azam telling
him that "You're nothing to me." The eventual result of the task
was the worst defeat in the show's history for Laing's team, and
despite Ifti Chaudri leaving the show that week due to missing his
family, Sir Alan felt that Rory had been such a weak leader that he
fired him anyway.
Although fired in the second week, his design in the final, when he
returned as part of
Simon Ambrose's
team, helped Ambrose to win the competition. Currently Laing runs
The London Zeppelin Company, the company behind the Stella Artois:
Star Over London, which he set up after approaching the German
airship company Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik GmbH. The flights are
the first Zeppelin flights offered to the public since the
Graf
Zeppelin in 1932. He is now based in London and hopes to work
further with
airship technology.
Naomi Lay
Naomi Lay, 26, from
Cornwall
, was
originally a PA and is now a Sales Team Manager for
Advertising.com. She has visited Sierra
Leone
and Russia
where her father worked in diamond and gold
mining. "People that know me would describe me as loud,
motivated, fun, determined, compassionate and energetic".
Lay
graduated from University College
London
with a 2:1 in Modern European studies and is fluent
in both French and Spanish after spending time studying at the
Sorbonne
in Paris
and the Complutense University
of Madrid
.
Lay was fired from the programme during the tenth episode. Many
viewers branded her firing unfair and felt that Simon Ambrose more
deserved to be fired that week for failing to manage the team
properly. Sir Alan subsequently acknowledged that her firing might
have seemed unfair on the basis of that task, but added that she
had never once impressed him in the ten weeks she had lasted, and
felt that she had been "incredibly lucky" to get that far without
being fired.
After
The Apprentice, Lay returned to Cornwall where she
was regularly talked about on the local radio station, BBC Radio Cornwall. She was one of the
judges on the Radio Cornwall Singing Sensation competition at the
Royal Cornwall Show
.
Natalie Wood
Natalie Wood is a mother of two and former
receptionist who believed she would thrive under Sir Alan's
management. "I admire Sir Alan's achievements and attitude, I like
the way he is with people. Who needs the truth wrapped up with
fairy lights? Say it how it is!" she says.
Wood took issue with
Adrian Chiles,
host of spin-off show
The Apprentice: You're Fired!, over
a comment he made about her accent. Chiles, who has a distinctive
Birmingham accent, asked Wood on the spin-off show whether her
Essex accent had been a hindrance. "But how
can you pick up on my accent when Sir Alan is sitting across the
table", commented Wood. "How can he say that? Essex is fantastic
and I'm proud to come from Essex. A lot of people from Essex are
very successful. I find it hard to swallow."
Wood is now the roving reporter for the Ray Clark Breakfast Show on
BBC Essex.
Series Four
Raef
Bjayou', 27, the previous Series 4 contestant of the UK TV
series The Apprentice
attended the independent Westbrook Hay School in Hemel Hempstead
, Hertfordshire
, where he
became school captain, and the independent Haileybury and Imperial Service
College
in Hertford Heath
(also in
Hertfordshire). He later attended Exeter University
, where he obtained a degree in Politics and
History. He is a life member of the Exeter University
Debating Society and claims to "have never lost an argument yet".
He prides himself on his accent and appearance. His interests
include acting, lawn tennis and reading.
Bjayou struggled in the first episode of the series, getting called
back to the boardroom after misindentifying some fish, but he led
his team to victory in the next task and soon became one of the
favourites to win. He became popular for his distinctive dapper
appearance, mannerisms, and sayings such as "The spoken word is my
tool", as well as his defence of Sara Dhada when other candidates
in the house ganged up on her. He also earned praise from Sir Alan
Sugar as a "really nice chap", and Bjayou in turn claims to have an
e-mail "rapport" with Sir Alan.
After being dismissed in Week 9 of the show, he suggested to the
press that he would like to pursue a career in the media, and has
appeared in an episode of the comedy panel show,
8 out of 10 Cats. He has now landed a
reporting job on
Richard and
Judy.He was a contestant on the second series of
The Underdog Show, but
was eliminated in the fifth week. He has also appeared on
Ready Steady Cook, where
he beat fellow
Apprentice contestant Claire Young, and on
Celebrity Come Dine With Me.
Jenny Celerier
Jenny (Jennifer) Celerier
is a 36-year-old sales manager and single mother from Western Park
in Leicester
. She
prefers to be known as Jennifer but owing to the name confusion
with
Jennifer Maguire she was
called Jenny in
The Apprentice.
Born and raised in
Suffolk, she began her career working for
the Probation Service before returning to De Montfort University
to study Marketing.
Prior to her appearance in
The Apprentice, Celerier worked
her way up the career ladder, culminating in her winning a British
Excellence in Sales and Marketing Award – the UK's highest level of
recognition for sales executives. She also overcame the effects of
meningitis in 2006.
Immediately prior to
her appearance in The Apprentice she was a sales representative for The Mark Group – a loft insulation company which has an
office in Beaumont Leys
.
Celerier was fired in week seven for inconsistencies in her
statements about whether she knew the meaning of "
kosher" while trying to blame Michael Sophocles for a
purchasing error relating to a kosher chicken that their team had
been tasked to buy. In the same week she attempted to bribe a
supplier into not dealing with the opposing team. While Sir Alan
later said that he would not have fired her for this unless it
altered the outcome of the task (which it did not, as the shop
turned down the bribe and any resulting fine for the other team
would still not have cost them victory), it helped convince him
that she deserved to go.
In more than one episode Celerier was seen in heated arguments with
her fellow contestant Lucinda Ledgerwood (and also Sara Dhada later
on in the series), which many viewers saw as verging on bullying.
She has been compared to
Katie Hopkins
from Series 3, and has since been perceived as a
villain of the show. Soon after firing her, Sir Alan
Sugar described her as a "snake".
In the summer of 2008, Celerier teamed up with fellow
Apprentice candidate
Kristina
Grimes to found The KGJC Partnership to promote excellence in
business performance.
Nicholas de Lacy-Brown
Nicholas de Lacy-Brown is a 24-year old trainee
barrister from west London. His birth name was simply "Nicholas
Brown", but he incorporated his grandmother's name "de Lacy" to add
an element of sophistication.
He was educated at the independent Our Lady of Sion School
in Worthing
, West Sussex
and at
King's College London
. He once ran for president of the Law
Society at King's, but failed in his bid. In his speech in the run
for president he sang to his audience and read the whole speech
from a script.
He was fired in week one after pricing lobsters at a quarter of
what they should have been selling for. During the boardroom that
saw him fired he committed what was seen as one of the biggest
boardroom gaffes ever when he told Sir Alan that he felt unable to
get on with people who like football, evidently forgetting Sugar's
former role as
Tottenham
Hotspur chairman.
On 29 May 2008, de Lacy-Brown's leg was crushed after a lorry
reversed into a wall which then fell on him. He needed several
operations on the leg. In October 2008, de Lacy-Brown was seen at a
production of
La Cage Aux Folles in London, still sporting
crutches. As a result, he was unable to attend the filming of
The Apprentice: You're Hired along with the other
candidates, and so was represented by a cardboard cut-out held up
by Jennifer Maguire. He owns a website which features his
artwork.
Sara Dhada
Sara Dhada, born 1982, is an international used
car saleswoman and barrister who describes herself as a "true
example of pure class and elegance". In Week 6, Dhada was the
victim of finger-pointing both in the boardroom and afterwards from
other candidates who felt she had not pulled her weight on the
task. However, fellow candidate Raef Bjayou defended and supported
her during the ordeal. She was fired from the series in Week 8,
after her team, led by Helene Speight, lost the Wedding Fair task.
In the after-show interview, Dhada stated that she did not believe
she was responsible for the loss, but deserved to be fired based on
her poor defence of herself in the boardroom.
Lucinda Ledgerwood
Lucinda Ledgerwood, 31, is
a risk manager from Edinburgh
(although
she was born in Singapore
) and comes
from a wealthy background. She has a BSc in
Psychology and Neuroscience from Manchester University
. Ledgerwood's first job was with
Ernst & Young. She joined Ernst &
Young on 9 October 1998, and has also worked for
Merril Lynch. She reputedly earned £120,000 a
year as a contractor, more than the prize wage for the show, but
claims not to be motivated by money.
Fellow candidates Lee McQueen, Raef Bjayou and Claire Young praised
her management style on numerous occasions. She was fired in week
11 because Sir Alan thought her too "zany", and because she had
doubts about fitting into the job. She was notable on the programme
for her colourful wardrobe and for being the victim of office
bullying from other candidates (especially Jenny Celerier and
Helene Speight), but later emerged as a highly capable and popular
project manager. Her dress style was heavily criticised by
The Daily Mail, but praised
by
The Guardian.
Along with
James Max, she is the most
successful candidate in the history of the programme, winning eight
out of ten tasks, and coming fifth overall as a semi-finalist
(Helene Speight and Alex Wotherspoon finished joint third in the
final). Perceived by much of the audience as a standout candidate,
Nick Hewer praised her on
The
Apprentice: The Final Five as "a gutsy girl, in a quiet way".
Margaret Mountford also gave her
much praise, saying "I think Lucinda is a lot better than she
appears to have been so far – hats and cleavage or no hats and
cleavage." She also received much praise from former runner-up
Ruth Badger in Ruth's appearance on the
You're Fired! show. On
The Apprentice: Why I fired
them, Sir Alan Sugar praised Lucinda as having "exceptional
skill", and felt that she would have been "fantastic" in the role
of working for him, but explained that he did not feel that she
would have been willing to apply her mind to the job.
Since leaving the programme, Ledgerwood has expressed interest in a
career in the media and in herbal medicine, which she studies
part-time at
Napier University.
She has also served as a BBC assistant presenter at Royal Ascot
2008, and as a cover host for
Danny
Baker's slot on BBC Radio London 94.9. She is currently in
discussion with a number of production companies and works on
behalf of the
Prince's trust. She
appeared as a contestant on
Celebrity Scissorhands, but did
not make it to the final three who appeared live on BBC Children in
Need.
Jennifer Maguire
Jennifer Maguire is a
27-year-old marketing consultant, originally from Dublin
, who says
that when she first ran an office, she made £60,000 in six months
with no training. She described herself as "the best
saleswoman in Europe at the moment". She was fired in week 7.
She went
on to star in RTÉ's
reality television show Fáilte Towers.
As of March 2009, she runs a chain of photograph studios in
Ireland.
She is also currently appearing as a
reporter on RTÉ
's
satirical clip show Republic of Telly.
Lee McQueen
Lee McQueen is a
30-year-old IT recruitment sales manager from Princes Risborough
, where he lives in a £500,000 house with his
girlfriend Nicola Jellyman (born c. 1980). The couple have
been together for nine years.
Born in Perivale
, London,
McQueen is the son of a milkman. He was educated at a
state comprehensive school, Queensmead
School
, in South Ruislip
. He
bought his first house at the age of 18 and then went on to buy
another one for his mother. His parents split when he was 17 and he
has since had little contact with his father.
His first job was as
a Catering Manager at the prestigious independent Harrow School
.
He aggressively berated fellow contestant Sara Dhada for her
alleged lack of input in Week 6 despite not even being part of her
team. He often says "Now that's what I'm talking about!". He is
also notable for his "reverse
pterodactyl" impressions, which he often uses in
order to attract people's attention. During the interview stages in
week eleven, he gave
Paul Kemsley (one
of the interviewers) a performance of this impression which was not
particularly well received. It also emerged that he had lied on his
CV by claiming to have studied at
Thames Valley University
for two years when he had in fact dropped out after four months.
Although this was brought up as a potential issue by Sir Alan, he
was chosen by Sir Alan as the eventual series winner.
McQueen went on to work for Sugar's company AMSHOLD, developing
digital display advertising. On 1 July 2008, he phoned in sick on
his first day of work for his new boss.
Lindi Mngaza
Lindiwe Elissa Mngaza, born January 1985, is a
business liaison manager with an
NVQ in
Customer Services.
She was born in Bury
, to a
Zimbabwean
father and
a South African "royal" Zulu mother.
She moved
to Birmingham, aged three, living in Northfield
and attending the Kings Norton Girls'
School. She then studied Performing
Arts at Solihull College
,
whilst starting a business at the age of 17, which she ran for two
years. At 19, she worked for
Phones
4U.
She now has her own house in Bromsgrove
.
Her role model is fellow
dyslexic Richard Branson – she admires his
entrepreneurial achievements. She was disappointed to be fired in
week five, saying she did not have time to "showcase her skills".
Her time on the show was the longest that anyone had gone in the
competition without getting the chance to be team leader.
In November 2008 Mngaza was accused by BBC's
Watchdog programme of
pyramid selling.
Kevin Shaw
Kevin Mark Shaw (born 1983
in Bath
)
was an area manager for the Halifax
bank. He lives in Woking
.
He went
to the Norton Hill School
in Midsomer
Norton
and started work at the NatWest bank in Wells
, becoming
a bank manager by the age of 19. He currently works for
Santander as a Wealth Manager. It
was reported that he is now earning in excess of £200,000
p/a.
He was fired in week 6, It was suggested in that week's
You're
Fired that Kevin might have been able to save himself if he
had taken Jenny back into the boardroom instead of Sara and
Claire.
Simon Smith
Simon Smith is a senior satellite television
engineer who despite nine years service in the
Royal Artillery and a self-avowed IQ of 170
only reached the most junior
Non-Commissioned Officer rank of
Lance Bombardier; a rank that, in his own words, carried "massive
responsibility". He specialised as a surveyor. He was fired "with
regret" in week four, as Sir Alan thought he was efficient but out
of his depth.
Michael Sophocles
Michael Sophocles was
educated at the independent Highgate
School
in North London. He is a 22-year old telesales executive. He
has been the subject of some controversy, firstly for being a
self-confessed "arrogant" person, and secondly, most notably, for
claiming to be "a good Jewish boy" on his application to the show,
but under closer questioning not knowing either the meaning of
"
kosher" or the common Hebrew toast
"
L'Chaim" (translated "to life" as per the
Fiddler on the Roof
song of that name).
The ineptitude of Sophocles, who read
classics and history at Edinburgh
University, prompted Margaret
Mountford (herself Cambridge-educated) to opine that "Edinburgh isn't what it
used to be".
Sophocles was perceived by the audience as the
villain of the series owing to his dirty tactics in
the boardroom, which saw him escape from being fired numerous times
despite his consistently poor performance in the tasks, having been
in the firing line four times in a row. On one of these occasions
(Week 7) Sophocles' over-enthusiasm and tactics actually reminded
Sir Alan of himself when he was younger, although he later
expressed regret about this in
The Apprentice: Why I fired
them, saying "Sir Al doesn't get it right all the time, you
know." He was fired in Week 10. After turning on principal ally
Raef Bjayou in his (Bjayou's) final boardroom,
You're
Fired! presenter
Adrian Chiles
went as far as to brand Sophocles an "odious little twat".
Sophocles later described himself as a "dead man walking".
Since leaving the show, Sophocles has admitted to once working as a
male escort to fund gambling debts. Some have compared him to
Syed Ahmed from Series
2.
Helene Speight
Helene Speight is a 32-year-old global pricing
leader at
General Electric
responsible for growing profits and market share.
She was born in
Leeds
and
studied at Prince Henry's Grammar
School, Otley
and now
lives in Leicester. In June 2000 she was employed by General
Electric and has worked there since. After
The Apprentice,
Speight returned to GE and was promoted to a General Manager of an
engineering company. She was noted for her unpleasantness mainly
towards, and about, fellow contestant Lucinda Ledgerwood, although
in Week 8 she said that she despised all the other contestants, and
during the interview week bemoaned "having to live with fifteen
gobshites." Already under scrutiny and suspicion from Sir Alan
owing to her association with a
corporate
environment, she was fired in the finals after her team made an
expensive bottle unfeasibly cheap, resulting in their losing the
task. Immediately after her firing she denied any responsibility
for the loss and blamed team mate Alex Wotherspoon for the error in
the bottle design, though in her appearance in the final
You're
Fired show of that series she admitted that it was her fault
for not doing enough on the first day of the task, and that
Wotherspoon deserved credit for keeping their team together during
that time.
Ian Stringer
Ian Stringer is a 26-year-old software sales
manager, who has worked for BBC local radio (
Three Counties Radio) and once had
a No. 8 hit in the charts when he rewrote the lyrics to Tony
Christie's "Amarillo". He claimed that "losing" and
synonyms are not words in his dictionary, although
his performance as project manager proved otherwise. He was fired
in week three.
He now commentates on BBC Radio Leicester's coverage of
Leicester City FC games.
Shazia Wahab
Shazia Wahab is a 35-year-old mosaic artist and
company director. Her family, including her 11 brothers and
sisters, hold a Guinness World Record for the number of university
degrees held between them in the United Kingdom. She was fired in
week two after her desertion of her post led to the mix-up of
laundry items, resulting in some customers' laundry going missing.
This was considered the shock firing of the series, and
Adrian Chiles agreed with her own opinion that
she was scapegoated by fellow contestant, and then-project manager,
Jenny Celerier. Nonetheless, Sir Alan stuck by his decision to fire
her, flatly stating that whatever Jenny had done wrong in the task,
he had no intention of ever employing anyone who made such a basic
mistake as losing customers' clothing.
Alex Wotherspoon
Alex Wotherspoon, 24, was
educated at the independent
Bolton School
in
North-West England, and has a BSc Honours Degree in Managerial and
Administrative Studies (MAS) from Aston
University
. Born in Bolton
on 30
December 1984, and currently working as a Regional Sales Manager,
Wotherspoon has a responsibility for a team of more than thirty
sales agents at Sainsbury's Energy. He began his working
life as a landscape gardener, before going to Texas for a year
where he worked as a Loan Officer. Wotherspoon believed that he
could have won
The Apprentice because of his tenacity and
communication skills, but admits he can sometimes be forgetful. He
made it to the programme's final (as one of the last four
contestants), but his group of two was struck off. In his free time
he boxes and ballroom dances.
Along with Michael Sophocles and Jenny Celerier, he was perceived
as a
villain, owing to his
Machiavellian, backstabbing tactics in the
boardroom, most notably against Simon Smith, Claire Young and
Lucinda Ledgerwood. Series 3 contestant
Tre
Azam described him as "a good sales person" but said that he
had "never met a snake like him" and was highly critical of
Wotherspoon's bringing up of Lucinda Legerwood's doubts about
fitting into the job in her final boardroom meeting, resulting in
her firing in week 11. Series 2 runner-up
Ruth Badger was just as scathing, saying he
"would not survive five minutes in my business". Several internet
blogs and forums dubbed him "Weasel Wotherspoon". Former celebrity
contestant
Clare Balding also
criticised his behaviour on
The Apprentice: You're Fired!,
and radio host
Vanessa Feltz branded
him a "snake". Even Sir Alan was critical of his backstabbing of
Lucinda, saying "I did not think that was necessary" but that it
"certainly showed his character", and describing Wotherspoon as
overly defensive. Post-Apprentice, Alex has had a quite successful
career doing many things from modelling to working for a law firm
As of March 2009 he has been doing many 'speaking engagements' with
younger children.
He also returned in March to Aston University
to speak to current students as part of Enterprise
Week.
Claire Young
Claire Young, 28, is a senior retail buyer for
Superdrug, buying hair care products.
She has a
BSc in Equine Science from the University of Bristol. Claire was born in Johannesburg
but from
the age of four was brought up in Wakefield
, where
she went to St Hilda's primary school in Horbury
and
Wakefield Girls High School
(both independent schools). Her appearance
has been likened to that of
Girls
Aloud's
Kimberley Walsh (a "size
16 Kimberley Walsh'") and she has received praise for being a "real
woman" and an excellent role model to counter the "size zero"
culture.
Questions were raised about her suitability for the show because of
her "racy past", as well as the revelation that she had previously
applied, numerous times, for reality show
Big Brother. In week 4, having been
reprimanded by both Sir Alan and
Margaret Mountford for her attitude
towards her project manager Simon, it was thought that she was
going to be fired when Sir Alan told her to leave the boardroom,
but he added that she was to go back to the house and become
project manager again. She learnt to control her impulsive and
chatty ways and was later to be a runner-up in the series. She
currently lives in Tooting, south London, although her parents
still live in Thornes in south Wakefield.
After
The Apprentice she was offered a job at
Birmingham City FC after
Karren Brady warmed to her while taking part on
the show. She had been due to take up the job in September 2008 (a
post thought to have offered more money than
Sir Alan's one hundred thousand), but later
declined, commenting that she wanted to set up her own consultancy.
As of March 2009 she is running a wedding planning and consultancy
business.
Series Five
Rocky Andrews
Rocky Andrews, 21, is a
sandwich chain owner from Middlesbrough
.
The sandwich business was given to him by his father after having
his football career with
Middlesbrough F.C. cut short due to
injury, he 'earned' more money than the salary on offer from Sir
Alan. He was fired in week two after making a series of mistakes
and failing a catering task which was noted as being best suited to
him.
Debra Barr
Debra Barr is a 23 year-old
Senior Sales Consultant from Surrey
(originally from Glasgow
), who
holds a BA in English Literature from Royal Holloway, University of London. She has
been portrayed as the villain of the series, along with Ben Clarke
and Phillip Taylor. Known for being gutsy and outspoken, Debra was
awarded 'mouth of the year' at her office Christmas party. Some
candidates have referred to her as being "six foot tall, seven foot
tall with her mouth open". Her outspoken manner was most notable
when she expressed frustration at Nick Hewer in week six for
questioning whether or not she was responsible for closing a deal.
However, Hewer added later that this was one of his personal
highlights of the series: "My real highlight, and who wouldn't get
a little frisson from it, to be ticked off by the lofty and
beautiful Debra". She narrowly missed a firing in week one, eight
and nine and was fired two weeks later in the interview task;
finishing in third place overall.
Despite not making it to the final two, Alan Sugar asked Debra to
"keep in touch" and made several remarks implying that firing Debra
instead of Yasmina or Kate could be one of the biggest mistakes
he's ever made.
On 11 June 2009, Deborah appeared on
This
Week to discuss the topic of workplace bullying.
Noorul Choudhury
Noorul Choudhury (born
1976) is a Science
teacher at Heywood
Community High School, in Heywood. He is of
Bangladeshi origin, where his parents
were born in
Sylhet. His interests include
fashion and design, and business in
tailoring. He currently has launched an online
recruitment consultancy, owns a property business and a
fabric technologist business. He was described as
being "quiet" and "in the shadows" because of his lack of
contribution to any of the tasks, before going on the show he said,
"I am not all talk. I can manage a team of people, total strangers
even, because I am feisty and have an attitude." His performance on
the show was heavily criticised by series 4 runner-up
Claire Young. In Week Four he was project
manager, and his management was described as "poor" by
Margaret Mountford. He was also,
consequently, the first contestant from any winning team to have
the title as "the one who got away" on the Apprentice's spin-off
show "You're Fired", meaning it was predicted that he narrowly
escaped the sack from Sir Alan despite his team actually winning.
He was fired in week 6 due to lack of contribution over a number of
tasks. After the show he described himself as the "life and soul of
the party" instead of the quiet character seen on the show.
Ben Clarke
Benjamin "Ben" Clarke, 22,
is a trainee stockbroker from Belfast
.
He was
educated at Campbell College
. He states that he has 'a raw hunger to make
as much money as possible' and that 'making money is better than
sex' .
He
has also claimed many times to have a scholarship from the Royal Military Academy
Sandhurst, although Margaret Mountford revealed he never
attended the college in Week 6. In March 2009 it was
reported in a British tabloid that Clarke had already been fired
from his position at an investment bank after it emerged he was
intending to take time off work to take part in the show, and also
due to his boasting about winning a place on the show.He was fired
in week 9. Clarke is famous for his catchphrase "I've got a
scholarship to Sandhurst." In reply, Sir Alan stated "I was in the
Jewish Lads' Brigade, Stamford
Hill Division, Trainee Bugler, but it didn't make me sell computers
when I got older!" moments before firing Ben, also mentioning how
former contestant
Paul Callaghan's
Sandhurst scholarship did not save him from being fired. The quote
also won "Quote of the Week" and received a lot of internet
interest. He is also famous for his role as 'Captain Squawk' in
week 5.
Kimberly Davis
Kimberly Davisis a 33 year
old Marketing Consultant from the Bronx
.
Before the Apprentice, she appeared on
the Friday Night Project, asking a
question to the guest host
David
Gest
Howard Ebison
Howard Ebison is a 24-year
old Retail Business Manager from Ashtead,
Surrey
. He was educated at the state comprehensive
Therfield School
in Leatherhead
, Surrey and at
the University of Warwick
, where he studied Mathematics. An award
winning dancer, and area manager of 10 pubs, Howard describes
himself as 'a credible businessman who wants to go far'. He was the
first project manager on the men's team, having led his team to
victory on the first task. He was fired in week 10.
Adam Freeman
Adam Freeman withdrew from the programme a day
before filming of the show began. He cited family reasons for his
untimely departure, however Sir Alan Sugar implied that Adam was
intimidated by him, stating to the contestants on the first episode
that he had 'bottled it'. A VT of him was shown on the first
episode of The Apprentice - You're Fired!
Paula Jones
Paula Jones was the project manager in the fourth
week and made a "very good product" (as described by Sir Alan)
however, she confused
Cedar wood with
Sandalwood, the latter being much more
expensive and partly caused a major mistake. Because of her lack of
responsibility in delegation of the person in charge of costing and
the costing itself, she was fired.
Mona Lewis
Mona Lewis, 28, is a Senior
Business Manager, single mother to son Ryan and former Tanzanian
beauty-queen who lives in Sittingbourne
,
Kent. No stranger to confidence, Mona states "I knew I would
be selected, not to sound big-headed... I've succeeded in the
companies I've worked for because I work hard and I'm honest." She
was Project Manager in Week One and was partly responsible for the
loss of the team. However, she won the Week 7 task when team
leader.
She was fired "with regret" on week eight,
after a task to rebrand the town of Margate
for
showing lack of skills and creativity. Mona said after she
left The Apprentice,"At no time have I ever claimed to be a
creative person! The whole reason I signed up was to put myself out
of my comfort zone. I put my hands up – I’m just not
creative."
James McQuillan
James McQuillan, 32, is a
Senior Commercial Manager from Surrey.
Before The Apprentice
James attended Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School in Holland Park,
one of the top Catholic comprehensives in the country, before
graduating from Edinburgh University with a
MA in
economics. He is a former child chess champion and
member of
Mensa, James describes himself as
'astute and shrewd and smart... maybe blunt at times'. He is also a
"sports nut" and has been a football referee since he was 16. Prior
to appearing in The Apprentice he was a commercial manager at a
telecommunications company.
The Apprentice
James narrowly escaped the boardroom twice, in weeks two and three,
and was observed to be very emotional by other
candidates. Sir Alan commented on his narrow
escape as " [him] being so far out of that door, you don't know."
Additionally, Sir Alan has regularly branded James as being a
"court jester" and "[a village missing an] idiot", despite his
being of supposed high intelligence.
He is also only the second candidate in Apprentice UK history - the
first being Saira Khan in Series One - to lose twice as project
manager and remain in the competition. Following Howard's sacking
in Week 10, James became the only male candidate in the final 5.
Despite this, he was "regrettably" fired after the interview
task.
Post-Apprentice
James has since followed on from previous series' candidates Ruth
Badger, Katie Hopkins and Raef Bayou in appearing in 8 Out Of 10
Cats the week after the final of The Apprentice. Since leaving the
show he has said that he hopes to be involved in public
appearances, conferences, after-dinner speaking, PR events, sport,
charity work as well as general business. It was also reported that
he would consider a career as a horse racing pundit.
In July, James was said to be working on a new racing TV programme.
He had done some screen tests with the aim of becoming a regular
presenter on a racing show. James also started working on a book
about pregnancy. He also has his own website.
Majid Nagra
Majid "Maj" Nagra is a 28
year-old Business
Development Manager from Coventry
.
Having been previously expelled from school, he describes his
attitude as 'never say die'. Just before his ninth birthday his
brother, sister, brother-in-law and cousin all died in a car crash
and he cites this as the reason why he was expelled from sixth
form.
He
later went to the University of
Coventry
. He was fired in week three for what Sir
Alan Sugar viewed as "sitting on the fence". After The Apprentice
he continues to run his arranged marriage website Ejori.com and his
car hire company. He was adamant that
James McQuillan should have been fired
instead and even joked that Margaret "fancied James".
Anita Shah
Anita Shah was born in
Birmingham, West Midlands and is a 35 year old woman who attended
the state comprehensive
Lordswood Girls’ School & Specialist Centre for Media Arts
in Harborne
, Birmingham
. She
was the first candidate to be fired from the series because of her
poor recognition of money spent and lack of contribution and
participation. Along with Kate, Anita is also a Wolverhampton
Wanderers fan. She is currently looking to pursue a career in media
and does voluntary work with BHBN Hospital Radio in
Birmingham.
Yasmina Siadatan
Yasmina Siadatan, ( ) a 27
year-old British-Iranian restaurateur from Kingston upon
Hull. She was educated at Kendrick School
, a
selective state girls' grammar school in Reading, Berkshire
, before reading Economic History at the LSE
. She describes herself as dominating yet
adaptable, having spent time living in Los
Angeles
and
Iran
before
settling in London. She also says: "Business is about a
simple formula. Make more than you spend. That's what I do, I keep
business simple and it works. I'm good at it."
She currently runs a
restaurant called 'Mya Lacarte' in Caversham, near Reading which was a replacement
for her former restaurant " Medies" in Kidderminster
She
was the team leader in the second week and consequently won the
task, and has since gone on to successfully manage two other tasks,
making her the first and only candidate in Apprentice UK history to
hold a 3-0 record as PM. She was hired as the winner of the fifth
series on 7 June, 2009.
Philip Taylor
Philip "Phil" Taylor is a
29 year-old estate agent from Durham, who
describes himself as the Elvis Presley of the business
world. He attended Tudhoe Grange Comprehensive
School in Spennymoor and revealed on The Apprentice: You're
Fired that he holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from the University of Chester
. Philip formed a relationship with fellow
contestant Kate Walsh after meeting her on the show and admits he
spent more time flirting with her than on his tasks. He has
subsequently met Kate's parents and they are now engaged. He was
fired in week seven for his arrogance, cockiness and "bravado
attitude", after which he left the boardroom calling his firing 'a
joke'.
Lorraine Tighe
Lorraine Tighe ( ), 36, is
a National Accounts Manager from Kent
. A
single mum who left school at 16, Lorraine has risen to the top
sales role in every company she has worked for. She says: "I've
fought against all the odds. I'm a single mum with no education and
I've had a very hard time. It is tough, but to have the confidence
I have I should be very proud of myself." She has once been
referred to as the '
Cassandra' of the
competition by Sir Alan's aide Margaret, as she has had trouble
getting other team members to listen to her views, which attracted
some sympathy from former contestant
Lucinda Ledgerwood. She has found herself
in the bottom three in weeks 5, 7, and 10, but escaped being fired,
and has won the most tasks this year with 6 wins. Throughout the
course of the series, she always refers back to her powers of
'intuition'.
At the time of The Apprentice, Lorraine Tighe was a single mother
of two children. Lorraine and ex-husband Theodore Apostolov split
up a few years before she went on The Apprentice.Tighe was born in
London, but when she was six, her parents, James and Loretto Tighe,
moved back to Ireland, and Lorraine attended Rathowen N.S, before
going on to the Loreto College in Mullingar. On several occasions
during the programme, Lorraine has been noted to slip from her
English accent into a broad Irish one, especially during stressful
moments.
Kate Walsh is a 27-year old Licensing Development
Manager from
Staffordshire.
Kate has
a BSc Honours degree in Psychology and Management from Aston University,
Birmingham. Ambitious and gutsy, the indie music fan lists
cooking, snowboarding and gym workouts as passions she pursues with
relentless enthusiasm. She says: "My CV speaks for itself. I've
always excelled academically and I have really achieved within a
corporate environment across sales, marketing and a number of
different aspects of business." She cites
Samantha Jones from
Sex and the City as her
top business idol. It was rumoured that Kate had a relationship
with fellow contestant
Philip
Taylor after entering the competition which she confirmed on
the final you're fired show. Walsh was
runner-up in the Apprentice 2009.
Since rejection by Sugar, Walsh has hosted a women's fashion
segment on
GMTV. Walsh currently presents a new
programme on
Five called
Live From Studio Five
with
Ian Wright and
Melinda Messenger. The first episode of
the show was broadcast on 14th September 2009.
References
- http://www.sit1.tv sit1.tv
- The Apprentice Week 1 & 2
- http://www.rte.ie/tv/programmes/republic_of_telly.html
- "The Apprentice – Notes to Editors" BBC
Press Office, 17 March 2009
- Series 4, Episode 7
- [1]Apprentice loser Michael Sophocles drowns
his sorrows after revelations about his 'escort' past
-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article1643550.ece
Apprentice star Claire Young quits job
- Noorul aims to reach top of Sir Alan’s class
Rochdale Observer (Manchester Evening News). 20 March 2009.
Retrieved on 2009-05-02.
- Alice McKeegan (18 April 2009) TV star shows serious side in poverty mission
Manchester Evening News (The Asian News). Retrieved on
2009-05-02.
- The Apprentice Candidates - Noorul Choudhury
BBC. Retrieved on 2009-05-02.
- Lorna Cooper (1 March 2009) "You're Fired!" Noorul Choudhury MSN UK.
Retrieved on 2009-05-02.
- http://tv.sky.com/the-apprentice-claire-youngs-verdict
- Another Apprentice bites the dust BBC News
(BBC). 29 April 2009. Retrieved on 2009-05-02.
- The Apprentice: Noorul Choudhury fired
Telegraph. 30 April 2009. Retrieved on 2009-05-01.
-
http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/news/2009/04/19/apprentice-s-howard-ebison-wants-to-turn-margate-into-gay-resort-115875-21288724/
-
http://www.nowmagazine.co.uk/celebrity-news/tv-news/341311/see-video-mona-lewis-fired-from-the-apprentice/1/
- http://tv.sky.com/apprentice-interview-mona-lewis
- http://www.jamesmcquillan.co.uk/page5/page5.html
-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2463637/Axed-James-to-take-punt-on-fame-Apprentice.html
-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/2511761/Apprentice-James-gets-a-turf-job.html?OTC-RSS&ATTR=TV
- http://www.jamesmcquillan.co.uk/
-
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gu9HK0skm1FPU2VrX5npwsTiuZOQ
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