‘My tactics were to play the fool’ Simon Ambrose, winner of series 3 I was made to look a bit of an idiot on the show, but that was a tactic for me. I tried to pass myself off as less intelligent than I was – it was good for other contestants to underestimate you. Before filming, I spent a lot of time memorising stuff about Lord Sugar’s businesses, but I never told anyone that. I played the fool, always willing to do silly things, such as rap or dance. Katie Hopkins was intelligent, charming, funny and witty. She didn’t take the process seriously. She admitted as much. It was a stepping stone to a media career. She used to play all kinds of tricks. Reptilian. That’s the word I’d use. I’m not surprised to see how she’s turned out. Winning was a dream come true. I’d had Amstrad computers as a child. I worked for Lord Sugar’s property fund for three years. It could be a bit tense, because there were long-term employees there, and suddenly this 27-year-old comes in on a six-figure salary, when they aren’t earning that much. I had to prove myself again, from scratch. But I think I won them over. People think there isn’t a real job at the end, but there is. It lasted three years before I moved on. I wanted to work for myself, not be an employee. ‘I still think my Emergency Biscuit was a wonderful idea’ Tom Pellereau, winner of series 7 I applied because they’d changed the format of the show. Instead of winning a job, you’d get investment. I’d been trying to make it as an inventor for 10 years. When I told my cousin, he said: “This is career suicide. They’ll portray you as a geek.” But I was in a real career low and this seemed like a last roll of the dice. Now I’m immensely thankful I did it. Nine years on, I’m fulfilling my dream, with my own beauty company and 15 products invented. My team kept losing. I’d see the errors we were making as a team, but I wasn’t able to get people to listen to me. I’m not your classic Apprentice candidate. I’m not very pushy. I was a shy engineer. The filming schedule was horrific. You’re woken up at 5am every day, you film until 10pm – and you’re only allowed one phone call a week, which the producers listen in on, to check you’re not leaking information to people back home. It was really claustrophobic. Ironically, given that I now run a business that turned over £5m last year, my worst task was the beauty challenge in the Bullring, Birmingham. We were trying to sell £100 hair pieces that weren’t very nice – when Claire’s Accessories was next door, selling something similar for £2. We were doomed. But we did pretty well with the fast food challenge. We came up with the MyPy brand in 20 minutes. I still think that’s a good idea! People shout “MyPy” at me in the street to this day. That and “Emergency Biscuit!” I still think the Emergency Biscuit was a wonderful idea. Everyone needs emergency biscuits. I think someone actually trademarked it in Australia. What I didn’t realise was that The Apprentice records two endings, one in which each finalist wins. So when they said Helen Milligan, the other finalist, had won, I was distraught. Then Lord Sugar said: “Your face is a picture! Didn’t they tell you we record two endings?” They recorded me winning next. The show airs six months later, and you only find out if you won a week before. I don’t talk to the other contestants much these days, although there’s a WhatsApp group for Apprentice winners that I’m a member of. Lord Sugar is still my business partner: he owns 50% of my business. I had a board meeting with him recently. I’m still scared of him. ‘People try to kill you then make small talk’ Ruth Badger, finalist in series 2 Because I got a reputation for being pushy on The Apprentice, it can be hard to find suppliers to work with to this day. I was arranging my daughter’s birthday party recently, and some suppliers wouldn’t work with me because I used my Badger email address and they recognised the name. I’m a bugger to deal with but I love doing deals! When I applied to be on the show, all I ever said was that I was really good at selling. I’m direct, I can talk to people and I can smell a pound. I have nothing but fond memories of the show. As the years have gone on, it’s become a different show. Back then, it was gritty. Later, it turned into a hair-gel-and-lipgloss show. But when I was on, the contestants were credible people with real experience who didn’t think the world owed them a living. Being a project leader is horrible. Everyone has the knives out for you. Sometimes the other contestants drive you mad. You have to live with them, do tasks with them, share bedrooms. Then you go into a boardroom together, try to kill each other in front of Lord Sugar, and just get in a car together afterwards, making small talk as you go back to the house. I had a bad experience with the press after. The Sun outed me as gay. I had journalists knocking on my nan’s door. I was already out to my family and friends – I had a long-term partner – but the level of intrusion was awful. It impacted my family massively. I’d never put my sexuality out there and they were trawling through my past, looking for salacious stories. They didn’t find anything, though. The News of the World hacked my phone. I settled with them out of court and donated the money to charity. I went into The Apprentice all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. And within three weeks of the show going out, I was being outed in a national newspaper. What was that about? Luckily I rode it out. I have an amazing family, which really helped. Lord Sugar is amazing. It’s incredible what he’s done for enterprise in this country. I still speak to him. He’s a really nice man. ‘There were rumours Lord Sugar used a booster seat’ Raef Bjayou, contestant on series 4 In the early years of the show, people who applied genuinely wanted to work with Lord Sugar, rather than become famous. That was my motivation: I wanted to learn from the business maestro. And back then, nothing was scripted. None of the producers ever said: “Can you ham this up, or say that?” It was a very pure version of the show. The only things that weren’t authentic were the boardroom scenes. That’s a set, Lord Sugar’s receptionist is an actress – and the scene where you step into the cab having been fired is prerecorded. The boardroom felt real though, like an antechamber to death row. You’re terrified. You’re sitting there about to fight for your place, and your mind is racing at 100mph, trying to figure out how you’re going to justify yourself. Plus you’re exhausted. The challenges are filmed back-to-back, so often you’re in the boardroom having just come off your second challenge. That’s the reason people look so crumpled and bloodshot. They’re completely deprived of rest – and they’ve got essentially a drill sergeant finding faults in everything they’ve been up to. Lord Sugar has disproportionately large hands compared to the rest of his body. They’re almost like those foam hands you get at sports games. When you see that huge hand coming towards you, the first thing you think is: “What big hands you have, Lord Sugar.” And then you think: “Please don’t point that finger at me.” When he does, it’s devastating. There were also rumours on set that he used a booster chair to make himself look more imperious. ‘The press were calling me Dr Barbie’ Dr Leah Totton, winner of series 9 It was a hard 12 weeks. I’d been working in the NHS, where people are quite humble and supportive. Then I found myself in a competitive, aggressive environment with people who came from cut-throat industries like recruitment or corporate law. You’d build a friendship with someone and they’d go into the boardroom and cut you in two. I was 24. I had just qualified as a doctor and wanted to set up a medical business. I went into the show to get the investment to build a brand. I wasn’t worried about being edited badly. I know my personality: I know I am very professional and reserved. My edit was incredibly fair. They can’t edit you to do or say things you haven’t done or said. One of the reasons I did well was because I’m good at mental arithmetic. You’re not allowed a calculator on the show. You have to calculate everything yourself. That’s why people often get percentages and margins confused. Being good at that helped me a lot. At the time, I didn’t find the media coverage of the final annoying. [Much of the focus was on the fact it was an all-female final between two young, photogenic competitors.] If Luisa Zissman and I were in the final now, I don’t think the coverage would be the same. What I found more upsetting was the coverage of my business. [Totton planned to set up aesthetic beauty clinics, offering Botox and fillers.] There were articles calling me “Dr Barbie”, which is incredibly derogatory. And there were these older male plastic surgeons saying it wasn’t safe for this “young doctor” to be treating patients, which I found appalling. One article said I was butchering women. That hostility was difficult. But if you put yourself out there, you have to take the rough with the smooth. You can’t mope. You have to roll with the punches. ‘My face got turned into a meme’ Solomon Akhtar, finalist in season 10 I had a great time. The food was good, the house was amazing, and the tasks were challenging. We got to go to New York! I think, because I was so young, I didn’t find it too stressful. Now, I’d probably be more cautious. The amount of time you get to get ready in the morning isn’t 20 minutes. Most people wake up earlier. The boardroom really is intimidating, though. It’s incredibly hot. And they leave you waiting outside for ages beforehand, too. People complain about the editing when it’s not in their favour. But they edit around your character. If you’re jokey and upbeat, that shines through. Likewise, if you’re argumentative and aggressive. I was happy with my edit. I got a hard time at the end, but I think the nation felt for me – especially because I was so young. That scene in the boardroom with Claude Littner, Lord Sugar’s aide, was pretty funny. [Littner savaged Akhtar’s business plan, causing him to be fired and he then attempted to walk out of the wrong door.] I think I just wanted to get out of that situation. It was funny but terrible. My face got turned into a meme. I get sent it all the time. It haunts me.