The Apprentice candidate Sarah Ann Magson interview: 'I've been team Camilla from day one'

The lawyer and business owner discusses her disappointment over narrowly missing out on the final five

The latest fired Apprentice candidate was dealt a short straw: narrowly missing out on a longstanding series highlight − the interview stages.

This week's chocolate task saw the 37-year-old's luck run out, following a heated boardroom showdown with contenders Daniel and Camilla.

Not that Sarah Ann Magson minds. The optimistic lawyer and nursery furniture business owner is overjoyed to have made it so far into the BBC competition.

We spoke to Sarah Ann about who she's backing for the win, why it seemed she was quieter than the other candidates when she's probably the loudest and whether she was tipsy while tasting the alcohol in her final task.

Did you anticipate making it so far into the competition?

On the first day of the application process, I wasn’t even sure I would get through that stage. But after getting through all the stages of the interviews and to get that call to say I was on the show, I started to think they could see something in me. I thought, “I’m going to fight as hard as I can to become the winner and get Lord Sugar’s investment”.

You narrowly missed out on being in the final five. Why do you think Lord Sugar decided now was your time to go?

I don’t think it’s necessarily about the task alone when you get to this stage in the process; Lord Sugar is looking at who he can invest in as his business partner. My main profession is as a lawyer. I had my daughter when I was quite young so I went to university to get a job that could put her through university, and I put my own plans of developing a business on the back burner a little bit. So my business is relatively new – I only set it up a few years ago. I think Lord Sugar realised that to invest in me, I would be giving up my professional career and he did make some comments about how he felt I had achieved an awful lot and maybe my business was more on the side compared to what I do day in day out. I think he felt Camilla and Daniel live and breathe their businesses and maybe they were more suitable to become his business partner.

You were one of the quieter candidates among some pretty strong personalities. Was it your plan to stay away from the arguments?

There was no plan whatsoever other than to be me. The tasks themselves make for very long days and you’re up very early in the morning. Each team only gets about seven or eight minutes of airtime per episode so I find that if you are the person who’s seen remaining professional in the background, and working really hard with the ultimate goal of winning that task, then you might not get seen as much as people who are getting in an argument. My ultimate goal on every task was to win. I didn’t want to fail. I wanted to get my head down and have a good outcome at the end of the task. As a result of that, I may have come across as being quiet which I’m definitely not. If you ask any of the other candidates, they’d say I was one of the loudest in the house. I’m a bubbly northern girl, but I’m also extremely professional. I also know when to speak when necessary and not to waste time.

Would you say you were one of the most professional there, then?

I think I probably have life experience and age on my side. Out of all the candidates, I’m the oldest by quite a long range. I’m more used to working in an environment where you’ve got lots of different personalities and you have to learn to bite your tongue and stay focused.

Is there anyone you’re surprised didn’t make the final five?

From the outset, I thought Jackie was a really strong candidate. Out of the boys, I’d have said Tom. I was surprised [when they went last week] and I was down to the final eight. I did think Jackie and Tom would have made it to the final five out of that eight, but I guess Lord Sugar had different ideas.

Who do you think he’s going to hire?

I’ve had Camilla’s back from day one. We were paired up in a room in the house and although there are 16 years between us, I got on with her so well. I think she’s amazing for her age and what she’s achieved. She’s been in the boardroom a number of times and managed to come out fighting, so I think Lord Sugar sees something in her. I’ve got my fingers crossed for her.

This year, there’s been more younger candidates than ever before. Do you think next year’s series needs to redress the balance?

I don’t think age is really relevant. It’s about whether you’re a credible person or whether you’ve got the passion or whether you’ve got a good business idea, so that could be myself or somebody who’s 22, like Camilla and Sabrina. I’ve had a different career path. I’ve done something in a professional academic career because of my life, and now it’s my opportunity to have a go at my own business. So I don’t think age is a factor.

Has the experience been a good one overall?

Yeah, the whole experience has been amazing. I’m so honoured to have had the opportunity to be a part of the process. It’s something that I wanted to do for a long time. It's true what they say: it’s one of the hardest interview processes anybody could ever go through, but I met some amazing people and had some brilliant opportunities. I got to do every single task, so I can’t be gutted going out at this stage. I am disappointed I didn’t get the opportunity to put my business plan across in the interview stages, but to have got to the final six out of a thousand candidates is just amazing.

Any regrets?

I don’t think you can ever have regrets. The one thing in coming across as one of the quieter candidates is that nothing has actually been shown that would ruin my credibility or my professionalism. I’m so thankful for the opportunity and am so thankful to have been chosen out of all the applicants.

What’s next for you?

I’m a director at the law firm I’m at and have a brilliant team there that I’m passionate about. I really want to push on in that aspect of my career, but I’m still pursuing my online nursery furniture business. My plan for Lord Sugar was actually a startup to extend that furniture business into a soft textile range. I have a couple of prodcuts I designed that aren’t yet on the market, and I’m looking at getting those developed so I can launch. I’m absolutely going to be pursuing my business plan alongside multitasking my day to day career. My daughter’s grown up now – she’s 20 and at university, so I have a tiny bit of spare time on my hands.

One last question: were you tipsy while tasting the alcohol for the chocolates? You were having a great time!

I’m a northern girl. I’m used to going out and having a good drink every weekend. I don’t think that it affected me – and you have to try the alcohol to taste the flavours! It was a means to an end.

The Apprentice continues next Wednesday at 9pm on BBC One