Fired Apprentice star shares Karren Brady-themed prank that rival played on candidates

The Apprentice star Stephanie Affleck has become one of the latest contestants to be fired from the boardroom in a shock double axe

After a gruelling 10 weeks of tasks, the final four – Stephanie, Brittany Carter, Kathryn Burn and Harpreet Kaur – presented their business plans to a group of entrepreneurs during the annual interviews episode in the hope of making the final and going into business with Lord Sugar.

Stephanie presented her second hand children’s designer clothes business to the entrepreneurs – but it failed to impress Lord Sugar and she was second candidate to be fired from the final four, along with Brittany.

Speaking to Daily Star and other press, Stephanie has now revealed some behind the scenes secrets from her time on the show – including the prank that one of her fellow contestants played on the other candidates in the house.

Stephanie has consistently impressed the boardroom panel throughout the series, particularly when she acted as Project Manager for team Diverse when they took customers on a tour in Wales.

However, her team later failed to win over employees on a team building day at Silverstone race track a few weeks later.

Despite this setback, she continued to impress and was awarded with a place in the final four – where she presented her business plan to entrepreneurs including Mike Suter, Linda Plant, Claudine Collins and Claude Littner.

After a tense series of interviews, in which she was asked questions such as whether she could tell the difference between a real designer shirt and a fake one, she was ultimately fired by Lord Sugar, with him saying: “Stephanie, the pre-loved market is not a market that is loved by me, so Stephanie, you’re fired.”

Although Stephanie has gone home in the black cab, she explained how thankful she was to have not only developed her own business skills, but also to have gained a new family of friends in the process.

She also dispelled any ideas that there was tensions between the candidates, despite tempers flaring in the boardrooms after tasks, and said everyone loved spending time with one another behind the scenes.

She said: “We are all like the best of friends. Often it was me and Kathryn stuffing our faces in the cinema room.

“It wasn’t that exciting what would happen behind the scenes. We’re not really allowed to watch much TV, just in case it could help with a task. All we really had was going back to the old days – we just had our conversation.

So we just spent a lot of time talking, doing old school games.

“I didn’t stay in halls in Uni, so in a weird way, it was kind of like my Uni experience. When I left I was gutted – I honestly thought I could have lived in there forever.

“We used to do cooking – Harpreet is a fantastic cook. It was just a lot of fun.

“Everyone there had a really good sense of humour. There was always laughter – we’d do barbecues in the back garden. It was the perfect summer.”

Reflecting on her time in the house, she also revealed that one candidate in particular loved to play pranks on the others in the house, saying: “Aaron is an absolute joker, and Nick is really funny.

“I think it depends what humour you go for. Brit is like, the energy of the house.

“I don’t know if anyone seen the story, but Aaron and I had these crisps that we used to be obsessed with.

“We used to hide them from the other candidates so they wouldn’t eat them, as we only had a certain amount, and one day he put ‘Karren Brady’ on all of them, so people thought they were Karren Brady’s, so no one would eat them.

“It was sort of that kind of pranking that he used to do all the time. Genius.”

She was also delighted to be in the final four with three candidates who she considered to be her closest friends, adding: “Brit, Harps and Kathryn are my absolute sisters. I love them to death. They are amazing.

“Naturally you’re going to be friends with some people and best friends with others. It was so nice that we became best friends so early and actually got all the way to the end with each other. It was a lovely full circle moment.”

Steph is also proud to have made history as one of the first candidates in an all female final in The Apprentice, saying: “I feel so proud that I’ve come on this series. Not only is it the final four, but it’s final four – all women.

“To have made history in a programme is absolutely unbelievable to me.

“What you see on there is genuine. We all were trying to support each other, and even now, we all support each other’s businesses.

We all want to bring each other up,” adding: “We’ve all got fantastic businesses, we’re all different, we all could offer something different.”

She also said that although the entrepreneurs gave each candidate a tough grilling about their business plans as part of the process, there was one in particular that Steph formed a bond with.

“To be honest, me and Claudine actually had some beautiful moments, and although it was highlighted briefly, we had a really nice connecting moment.

“As much as there is that entertainment aspect – there also is this other element to them where they tell you some really beneficial stuff. There’s things that I’ve taken from Linda, Mike and Claude that I have now put into my business.

“It’s funny, the business that I have now got from all those changes – I think if I went back into the process, I may have been in the final, but I wouldn’t have made those changes without the interviews.

They actually give you some sound advice. Claude told me some aspects that I should include.”

Steph also revealed that she learnt elements about her business that even she did not know, adding: “Honestly, they told me stuff about me in those interviews that I didn’t even know myself.

“Literally, Mike told me I had shares in a company that I didn’t even know about. I walked out going, ‘oh lovely.’

“I honestly learnt new things about myself in the interview. Linda was probably the most savage, and Claudine was my absolute fave. I love Claudine – she’s an absolute babe.”

Looking ahead to the future, Steph revealed that her business journey with The Little Fashion House is not over and that the entire Apprentice process has inspired her, saying: “You honestly learn so much from it.

I definitely work a lot faster in business now, because time is key in a process like that. Resilience, there’s so many different skills. It sharpens your skills up.

“How many times am I going to go and pitch to people like Boots, Superdrug? It just really enhances the skills that you have already got.

“What’s next for me? I’m want to go and do what I was sent here to do, which is go and get an investment. I want to go and elevate my business.

There’s definitely a gap in the market for what I’ve come here to do. I’ve had so many messages from people saying how much they love the idea. Now it’s time to get someone to invest in it.”

But who would she love to receive business advice from? There’s one person in particular.

“Yes I would absolutely love to be mentored by Karren Brady. This is my campaign for that guys – get that out there!”

The Apprentice airs on Thursday, March 24 at 9pm

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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk