Claire Young (Pic:JK Press)
Apprentice star Claire Young sunbathes on a sweltering beach - after admitting she struggled to cope with the backbiting on the hit show.
Claire, nicknamed The Rottweiler, confessed to fellow holidaymakers how rows between the 16 hopefuls battling to win a job with business tycoon Sir Alan Sugar were so bad the BBC has had to cut scenes of foul-mouthed aggression.
She said tempers flared as contestants were cooped up in the Apprentice house for 24 hours a day, their every move watched.
Viewers have seen loudmouth Claire, 29, rub Sir Alan up the wrong way by constantly answering back in the boardroom.
But despite his cut-throat reputation, Sir Alan, said Claire, has a heart of gold. She told one tourist during a break in Mallorca: "He is intimidating in real life like he is on TV but he's got a wicked sense of humour. He's good fun.
"I've been out to dinner with him and some of the others. I think he likes to be out with young people - he probably gets fed up with the same boring old businessmen."
But Claire found her fellow competitors harder to deal with. "I think we all struggle sometimes to cope with it. You are stuck in a goldfish bowl. In the house you're only allowed to make one phone call a week to your mum and dad and the BBC don't let you talk about anything to do with the show.
"They film everything so you can't say how you really feel sometimes you want to let off steam but you can't. Instead I had to listen to my mum talking about going to Sainsburys. I started to get really stressed out and I think it's started to show. Sometimes I watch The Apprentice and think, 'God, I'm gobby'."
The BBC1 show was filmed several months ago and name of the winner is a closely-guarded secret while the series is still running. Claire, a former retail buyer from Wakefield, West Yorks, also admitted she fancies rival Alex Wotherspoon, but insists that the hopefuls are working too hard to even think about romance.
She said: "Alex is gorgeous but he's got a girlfriend. I've worked with him closely quite a lot. One day I looked at him and thought, 'You're so hot.' In fact, quite a few of them are good-looking. But to be honest you are just too tired to do anything about it. We are all there to try and get this once-in-a-lifetime career, so no one's had time for relationships."
But convent-educated Claire has found time to size up the competition when it comes to vying for the £100,000-a-year job - and has slammed her Apprentice rivals for being so egotistical and backstabbing.
She also claims arguments among the hopefuls have got so out of control at times in the boardroom that TV bosses have been forced to drastically cut scenes. She said: "There are all these egos in one room, there was a lot of bad swearing and it got really aggressive. A lot had to be cut out. On one task someone even got hit."
And despite admiring Alex's good looks, Claire claims he is prepared to walk over anyone to be part of Sir Alan's £830m empire. She said: "Alex is a player, big time. He'll turn on people all the time."
Claire and a pal relax topless on Magaluf beach (Pic:JK Press)
Claire was persuaded to go on The Apprentice by her mum - who has since been less than impressed with her on-screen language.
"My mum's called me up to tell me off for swearing in front of Sir Alan. I don't think she realised I had such a mouth on me."
Claire has also admitted she is selfconscious about her weight and hates seeing herself on the screen.
She said: "I look at myself on TV and I am fat and my face is big. Even here in Spain I worry about getting recognised by fans, 'cause I let everything hang out - cellulite, boobs, my tummy. It's not a good look. And how sad is this? I've been watching The Apprentice on TV in the evenings. I can't get enough of it, it's so funny."
'Someone got hit on one task'
|
