Apprentice star Brittany Carter spills truth of 'exhausting' process after boardroom axe

The Apprentice star Brittany Carter has been fired from the boardroom in a shock double axe following the tense interview stage of the series.

After a gruelling ten weeks of tasks, the final four – Brittany, Stephanie Affleck, Kathryn Burn and Harpreet Kaur – presented their business plans to a group of entrepreneurs, in the hope of making the final and going into business with Lord Sugar.

Brittany turned her love of health and fitness into a high-protein alcoholic drink product, but it failed to delight Lord Sugar’s tastes – and she was ultimately the first candidate to be fired from the final four.

Speaking to Daily Star and other press, Brittany has now revealed what life is like as a candidate on The Apprentice – from exhausting days, to the candidate she thought should have made the final.

Brittany Carter has had huge success throughout the series – winning tasks including her team’s successful employee away day at Silverstone race track.

After reaching the final, she and her fellow candidates prepared to have their business plans scrutinised by some of Lord Sugar’s “most trusted advisors,” with Lord Sugar saying: “If you have any skeletons, these lot will find them.”

Sat in front of Mike Suter, Linda Plant, Claudine Collins and Claude Littner, the candidates underwent intense interviews and in-depth questions about their business plans in order to decide who would eventually progress to the final.

Although Brittany had success in multiple tasks, her drinks business failed to impress the entrepreneurs, with Claude Litner saying: “This business plan is not a business plan. This interview is terminated.”

After a tough interview process, Lord Sugar ultimately decided to fire Brittany, telling her: “Brittany, you’re a very intelligent young lady and you have a very good job. I can’t for the life of me work out why you suddenly decided that you wanted to go in this direction.

“One of the traits that I have noticed with you, is that still back your ideas – even when they’re bad. I’m hoping that you rethink your idea, because I think it would be wasted, and it is with regret that Brittany – you’re fired.”

Reflecting on the process, Brittany explained that there were things that she would go back and change, and that no matter how much a candidate prepares for the interviews, you can never know what to expect from the entrepreneurs.

“You think you would have thought of every possible question they could ask, or every single critique they could face you with, but they always find something that you were not expecting,” said Brittany.

She added: “When I watched it back, I just wish that I hadn’t allowed myself to be so nervous and to feel the pressure so much.

I think I just really allowed the pressure to get to me. It’s one of my biggest regrets on it.”

Brittany revealed that as a huge fan of The Apprentice before appearing on the programme herself, she tried to prepare for the programme by rewatching previous series, but that what you see on the TV is only a snapshot of what candidates actually experience.

“Just before we actually went into the process, we had to self-isolate for a few weeks because of Covid.

I just watched The Apprentice, which probably was not too good for my brain, but all I did was watch The Apprentice over and over again to try and learn and prepare,” said Brittany.

“You see five minutes of what’s an hour long interview. It’s really interesting from actually experiencing it, because they go on for so long and there’s so much information that comes up.

It’s very interesting to watch such a small gap that actually gets broadcast.”

She added: “I think, because I’m an Apprentice fan and I’ve watched the interviews for so long, I knew how bad it was going to be, and I think in the lead up to going in, I really allowed myself to be like ‘I’m going into the interviews on The Apprentice.”

Looking back on the process, Brittany explained that not only do viewers only see a portion of what happens in the interviews and in the tasks, but also viewers may not realise that exhaustion can set in throughout the process.

She said: “What you don’t realise is that by that point in the process you actually are so tired. You’ve had 10 tasks that are completely relentless and challenging, you’ve had no sleep.

“IIf maybe I’ve had a two week holiday and then did the interviews, I would have done a lot better!

“I wish that I was a bit more powerful with my answers, but you can’t even imagine what it is like to be in there.

“I think what you forget when you’re watching at home is how exhausting the days and the process actually is,” added Brittany.

“You’re judging candidates on their performance in a task, but you don’t take into account that fact that you’ve had about three hours sleep every single day. You have to get up at four in the morning and you get back at 11 o’ clock at night.

“Maintaining that level of intensity for weeks and weeks, it really impacts performance and you still have to power through and just do it. You’re running on adrenaline for hours and then you have stages of lull, and it’s really difficult conditions to have to perform in.

“I think when you are watching as a viewer, it’s easy to say, oh why didn’t you say this? Why did they do that? Then if you add the element of the fact that you are just on the brink of exhaustion, I am definitely going to empathise so much more when I watch the next series.”

Despite being fired from the final four, Brittany looks back on her time on The Apprentice with fondness and that two tasks in particular will always stand out as highlights, saying: “The whole process from start to finish exceeded my expectations in every way. I absolutely loved it.

“If I had to pick highlights, the first one would definitely be the TV shopping task. Every single thing went right, my team were fantastic, I absolutely loved working with Aaron [Willis]. I learnt so many skills in that particular task. You have to learn to sell, negotiate, work as a team, product select.

“Absolutely loved Silverstone – again working with Aaron. It went so well and the clients loved it.

“Wales as well when I was working with Stephanie [Affleck] and Nick [Showering] was the task I laughed the most on. We just had so much fun doing the Highland Railway tour and Nick is so funny. We laughed the whole time – and we won that one as well, so they were my highlights.”

She also described the night she found out that she was in the final four as one of the best nights ever, saying: “When we got back to the house after the boardroom, you’re not allowed alcohol and it’s quite strict, but we got two bottles of Prosecco and we ordered Thai food.

“We sat down and ate Thai food and drank Prosecco – and honestly it was the best evening ever.

“It was really bizarre because the house was so empty, but we were so happy to be with each other and so elated that we got this far. It’s like a bench mark getting to the interviews.

“That is when you’ve completed the tasks and you’ve got so far through. Looking around and being with your four closest friends, it was just amazing. It was like the best sleepover ever.”

But is there anyone she thinks should have had a chance at the final?

“I must say, I think all of the candidates were fantastic, but I am an advocate for Francesca [Kennedy Wallbank],” said Brittany.

“She’s absolutely fantastic and we had a very close relationship in the house. She’s such a strong business woman and she was taken too soon. I was so shocked when she got fired so early on, as I genuinely thought she definitely could have been at the interview stage.

“I would have loved her to be the fifth girl with us, but everyone was fantastic. Every single candidate.

“I’m just so lucky to have had that time with them, because so much knowledge and experience has rubbed off on me from even knowing them. I’m really lucky to know them all.”

Although she might be leaving in a black cab to go home, Brittany is not letting her firing deter her and is preparing to launch her drinks business in four to six weeks time.

She will also be cheering on the final two candidates as they prepare to compete for Lord Sugar’s investment, and admits that anyone could win the series.

“I knew were going to be in the interviews. They were just so strong. They come across amazing on screen, but even when you’re working with them, they are just so skilled. They’re such good business people.

“They are there to win. I just knew from the beginning of the process that those three were going to go very far. I knew I had my work cut out from me meeting them.”

The Apprentice final airs Thursday, March 24 on BBC One at 9pm

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk