The Apprentice fired candidate Frank Brooks interview: 'I made Lord Sugar feel uneasy'

The latest hopeful to be eliminated from the BBC series on why he shouldn't have been fired

The latest Apprentice candidate to be fired by Lord Sugar has been revealed – and he has a lot to say about it.

For their third task, the candidates manufactured and sold upmarket doughnuts to both a corporate client and the public

Things didn't end too well for 27-year-old senior marketing manager Frank Brooks who was sent home after being brought back to the boardroom by project manager Tom Bunday.

We spoke with self-confessed Apprentice superfan Frank about the frustrating reason he thinks he was fired and who he's backing for the win.

Why do you think Lord Sugar fired you?

I think perhaps Lord Sugar felt uneasy about me as a character, about being a little hot-headed at times. It looked like I don’t work well under pressure but I certainly like to think I do. It was a pressurised environment. Making doughnuts is not a thing you do every day. I couldn’t have prepared myself for it.

You must be frustrated with his decision. It’s not like you’ be frying doughnuts as his business partner...

You’ve hit the nail on the head there. You do have a little bit of frustration, yeah. In my career, I’m obviously far cooler, calmer and more collected and able to work well in my environment. The tasks are designed to find the ideal candidate so you’re thrown in the deep end a lot of the time, it’s just how you react to that.

Did you expect to go when you were brought back to the boardroom?

I think I started to feel it was slipping away from me as the conversation was going on. It didn’t help that I was in the bottom three the previous week. Maybe that’s why Tom brought me back? Even Lord Sugar pointed out it was mine and Jasmine’s second time so automatically, there was a bit of a mark against me. To be honest with you, I shouldn’t have been brought back in that final three. I thought I was going to get away, so it was a huge shock when Tom made his decision.

It must have been considering you clearly weren’t responsible for the failure of this particular task.

Absolutely. Last week, the two people I brought back as project manager were justified because it was for the two reasons we failed the task. I stand by that. This task was not lost on me getting a little stressed in the kitchen trying to fry 336 doughnuts; it was because of a catalogue of errors in terms of the corporate order, that bespoke design – and we chose the wrong location for selling.

It really seems like Jackie’s getting away with a lot.

This is a competition. You have to think tactically. I think that maybe if Jackie had been brought back in, her and Jasmine would have turned on Tom and Tom would have probably ended up going.

Do you hold any hard feelings against Tom?

No, there’s none. Like I said, it is a competition and you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do. We’re all there to fight for this business opportunity. I can’t hold grudges because life’s too short really.

Lord Sugar said you weren’t the kind of business partner he was looking for. Who is?

All of them show really good promise. I think Camilla is really interesting. She has great business acumen but she also comes across as a nice likeable character. She’s very process driven which may work in her favour – that’s the one thing my team were all lacking in this task.

Any others?

Well, Kayode is a great character. When he was talking German I really couldn’t believe it. He’s got a positive mental attitude which I think will serve him well. I think Daniel is good, especially in that pitch to the corporate client. He really managed to turn it around. If he’d been on our team, the outcome would have been very different.

What have you learnt from this experience?

Quite a few things. You really have to stand by and justify your opinion. In week two, I thought that we created a relatively good product which had some flaws in it, but you’ve got to back yourself – but not in an arrogant way. The series has definitely put me in good stead. I think you also need to not take people at ace value. I’ve realised I’m someone whoe gets on with everyone, but maybe I should step back and see that people could have an agenda. It’s definitely thickened my skin.

What prompted you to apply in the first place?

Well, I’m actually a huge Apprentice superfan. I love the programme and have watched it every year from series one. It’s my go-to. I was watching last year and thought, ‘Now’s the time to throw myself in.’ It’s the only opportunity for you to have up to ten jobs in as many weeks. Even if I didn’t end up winning, I was always going to have a good experience. That’s definitely what pushed me to apply.

So, did you have a good experience?

100 percent – I’m so glad I did it. I’m lucky to have been a part and the whole process. I’ve no regrets.

What’s next for you?

I really would like to fulfil my business plan. I think this process has made me realise I need a bit more industry knowledge, and that I need to toughen up a bit.

One last question: do you really like doughnuts and hot sauce?

Not now! If I ever see a chilli chocolate flavour or even a doughnut, I’ll pass. It’ll definitely help my waist line.

The Apprentice continues next Wednesday on BBC One at 9pm