FIRED UP
I was on the first ever Apprentice series – Lord Sugar is never there and viewers don’t see who really calls the shots
It seems the business mogul did not appear much on set outside the boardroom
THE Apprentice has made various contestants over the years household names.
Series one winner Tim Campbell is now Lord Sugar's adviser on the BBC programme alongside Baroness Karren Brady.
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He beat out the likes of former Loose Women personality Saira Khan as well as TalkRadio's James Max to nab the crown.
But he also competed against Raj Dhonota, 49, who has now opened up about his time on The Apprentice.
The Kent native made several candid revelations about the show that viewers might not know about.
He revealed that the contestants do not really see Lord Alan Sugar as is not on set much outside of the boardroom.
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The former contestant told : "However, we did win a task and have dinner with him as a reward at his favourite restaurant in London.
"I found him to be straight-talking and fair – apart from the time he changed the rules just to fire me!
"Ultimately his role is to do what is right for the TV programme from an entertainment perspective rather than picking out the best business mind."
He also admitted that the advisers are also not always present, and it is the producers who mainly give feedback on the weekly tasks to Lord Sugar.
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"From experience, the advisers are not there all the time or even the majority of the time," he admitted.
However, he has nothing but lovely words to say about the winner of his series, who went onto have a prominent role on the show.
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Raj explained: "Tim was one of the nicest and sincerest on the show.
"Admittedly at the time he won it, he didn’t have the same level of business experience as some of the other contestants, but I think everyone was unanimous in being happy for him that he won the first series."
Although he was gushing about the business star, it seems he has no plans to watch his former colleague in action.
The former TV personality admitted that he only watched a few episodes of his own series of the long-running show and he has not tuned in since.
Raj was fired on week nine of the process by Lord Sugar for his apparent lack of sales skills and his seeming lack of action in the tasks.
But the star admitted that if he knew what the show was going to be like, he might not even have wanted to take part in the first place.
"I have not watched the series since the first one. Even with the first one, I only saw the first 4 episodes (out of the nine I was in) and then went to India to start my next business," Raj explained.
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"I had seen enough in the first four episodes of the first series to understand that the reality of what actually happened and what was portrayed in the edits could not have been further apart."
He added: "Suffice to say, had I seen the first episode there is no way I would have applied to be in a subsequent series."
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