The Apprentice’s Ruth Badger says she was outed as gay and had her phone hacked in wake of show

Businesswoman was runner-up in show’s second series

Ruth Badger, who starred in the second series of The Apprentice, has recalled being outed by the press and having her phone hacked in the wake of the show.

Badger competed on Lord Alan Sugar’s long-running BBC series in 2006, where she eventually placed second to winner Michelle Dewberry.

The Wolverhampton-born businesswoman has now revealed that she experienced “awful” treatment by the press after the show’s finale.

“The Sun outed me as gay,” she told The Guardian. “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.”

Badger also revealed that her phone was hacked by the News of the World, and that she “settled with them out of court and donated the money to charity”.

Badger embarked upon a TV career following her Apprentice run, presenting her own series Badger or Bust and judging the Sky One series The Big Idea. After returning to the business world, she founded the consultancy firm Ruth Badger Consultancy.

Alan Sugar with Apprentice runner-up Ruth Badger in 2006 (Rex Features)

The 2020 series of The Apprentice was confirmed as postponed in June, with the coronavirus pandemic making filming “impossible”, the BBC confirmed.