The Apprentice 2023: Seventh fired candidate says they ‘deserved to go’ after 'awful' task

Virgin Radio

16 Feb 2023, 22:11

Another candidate was sent packing by Lord Sugar on tonight’s (16th February) The Apprentice. 

*Spoilers ahead if you've not caught up with episode seven of The Apprentice*

The entrepreneurs wanting Lord Sugar’s investment had to design a new lunchbox aimed at six-to-eight-year-olds, along with an app to encourage healthy eating. 

Martial arts school owner Sohail Chowdhary was Project Manager of his team’s task, and while his background in teaching children might have given him an edge, the Southampton local struggled to impress investors with their pirate-themed lunch box and quiz app. 

Despite giving it his best go, Sohail admitted he could see why he was sent home. He exclusively told virginradio.co.uk: “It was an interesting one, because I think it was flawed from the very start, unfortunately. The show gears it to make it look like an absolute disaster but it wasn’t all that bad, but at the end of the day, I did make some bad decisions. On this task, especially, I feel like I deserved to go. Everyone has weak moments and this was definitely mine.”

When it came to what went wrong, Sohail blamed the “concept as a whole” which involved a “dull, bland” brown chest lunchbox and an app they didn’t have time to finish. Despite their best efforts to turn it around in the pitches, the businessman admitted the final product was “awful” but he chose to stand by it. 

Despite getting no uptake on their products by the potential investors, Sohail admitted he's leaving the process with some fond memories, including some very high praise from Lord Sugar himself. 

On the experience in the boardroom following their disastrous final product, Sohail shared: “Lord sugar was there and complimented me a lot. I came from a council house, and he was there looking at my CV. He said: ‘Wait Sohail, you came from a council house, and all of a sudden, you bought property, you've got a sports car, Did you win a lottery or something?’

“That's the biggest compliment ever. So you know, there are a lot of things which go in and out of the edits, but at the end of the day, that was not my best task. But I know for me as a person, like I'm a strong candidate, and I did get a lot of compliments in terms of me as a person as well, which I'm happy with.”

Sohail also revealed that while he might not have reached the final, he did achieve his goal of inspiring other people, receiving love from viewers both on social media and while out and about. 

He continued: “The amount of support and outreach I've had has been just beyond imagination, especially when I tell my story. I came from a council house. I got fired five-and-a-half-years ago from the biggest accounts company in the world, and I made a business out of it.

"When I tell people that story, the social media outreach has been insane. Like everyone's there like ‘oh my god, you inspire me.’ That's why I came on the show. My primary reason was to inspire people. As much as people want to win, that was the reason why I wanted to do it. I feel like I've achieved that.”

The Apprentice continues Thursday at 9pm on BBC One and iPlayer.