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The Apprentice: You're FiredTuesday 27 May

BBC2, 10:00pm - 10:30pm

Companion discussion show to the Apprentice, with Adrian Chiles. The teams have to hire out luxury fast cars, but who'll end up in the pits? Grilling the one who didn't make the grade, and checking out the performance of those who are left, are former Apprentice runner-up Ruth Badger, Radio 1 DJ and presenter Trevor Nelson and car expert Vicki Butler-Henderson.
rADIOTIMES

Phew - at last sense seems to have prevailed, and Michael - the plonker with the sad puppy-dog look - has gone.

As for working as an escort - well, at least he worked to pay off his debts.

Have to laugh at the comment that 'most of his clients weren't stunners' - maybe Michael's 'friends' should take a closer look at some of the men who avail of the services of female escorts.

Apprentice star's prostitution exposed


Last weeks fired Apprentice contestant, Michael Sohpocies, has been exposed as a former male prostitute and a gambling addict, reports say.

Michael told The Sun in an interview that he had sex with an overweight, 48-year-old woman with a moustache for £100.

“I closed my eyes and thought of Cheryl Cole then every other member of Girls Aloud in an orgy. That's what kept me going,” he said.

The 25-year-old, who described himself as a “good Jewish boy” in his CV for the reality TV show, said he also stole hundreds of pounds from his flatmate and built up £16,000 in gambling debts.

Michael told The Sun that when he first gambled and won £50 he became sexually excited and started gambling £300 a day, staying in the casino for 14 hours a day.

After racking up debt he had to make some quick cash and saw an ad for an escort agency, he then soon became a £50-an-hour escort.

The Apprentice star started going on hired dates and when offered money from a “Dawn French lookalike” for sex, he quickly said yes for the extra cash.

His short lived career as a male prostitute was soon over when the escort agency discovered he had been having sex for money with clients.

He soon had a breakdown after still having £16,000 in debt owing, he said: “I saw a sign about gambling addiction in a casino and I had all the traits.

“That's when it hit me I was an addict,” he told The Sun.

Although admitting he was also a sex addict, bedding over 70 women, he managed to clean up his act, pay off his debt and now earns £120,000 a year as a telesales exec.
Metro

Lucinda Ledgerwood: the Apprentice star reveals her fashion secrets

Gloves, scarves, jaunty berets - there hasn't been a dull moment in the Apprentice star's wardrobe. Here, she reveals her fashion secrets, while our expert delivers the verdict on Lucinda's key looks




I dress for myself, 100 per cent; or, in Apprentice-speak, 150 per cent. Although, having said that, I think colour and femininity are good things and that we should applaud them. The most important thing to me about my clothes is that they are comfortable and that I can move fast in them – anything else about them, colour or whatever, is just for fun.

I started playing around with colour a few years ago. I think red can work in your favour in the boardroom, but I would never wear it to an interview because it's too threatening. For a big, interview I would probably wear green. It's bright without being harsh and it's not too overpowering.

People often tell me they like the way I dress, and I've been called a little ray of sunshine in my office, which is lovely. If you're walking down the street and it's cold, wet and windy and you've got your beret on and a bright coat, people will always smile. They're always so much more receptive to you if you look colourful, and striking up a conversation is so much easier.

My wardrobe is all over the place. I'm pretty scatty, as was pointed out a couple of times on the show, so I tend to have piles of clothes everywhere. I know what's in each pile, of course. I'm not the kind of person who has her shoes in a shoe box with a Polaroid of them stuck on the front; I'm the person with all her shoes shoved into a drawer under her bed.

It takes me mere moments to get dressed. It's a question of getting out of the shower and then putting on whatever I feel like. It's different if I'm going to something important, though. That's when I get anal about things: I'll have picked out the clothes the night before and laid them out somewhere where my cats won't sleep on them.

Apart from berets, I can't stop buying gloves. I mostly find them in retro or charity shops. I feel the cold really easily, so if there's a nip in the air, I'll always put on a hat, gloves and neck scarf. The great thing about scarves is that they mean that you don't have to think about wearing jewellery.

I shop randomly. I'll go for a shop maybe twice a month and get all the things that I need. My favourite high street store is probably Topshop. I also go to LK Bennett. Their shoes are fantastic and their clothes are great, too – made from lovely soft material and cut nicely. You can also mix and match their clothes easily as they're always made from gorgeous tweeds and silks.

I don't really go to designer shops. I certainly don't know the names of any designers, except for Biba, I think that those old Biba clothes are really great. I'm not that interested in what celebrities are wearing. I didn't have a telly for five years before I went on The Apprentice, so I never watch make-over shows.

I've always got a pair of flat shoes with me and some high heels in a bag. There's nothing worse than having to hobble around all day in heels. It's ungainly, it's bad for your feet and it trashes your shoes. I'm probably further ruining any image I might have had by saying this, but I get my pumps from New Look or Topshop; they have fantastic colours and they're cheap, so if you find yourself in the middle of a muddy field it doesn't really matter because it'll be £10 to replace them.

I don't think clothes need to be pretentious to look nice. Right now I'm wearing pink satin pumps, a flowery white skirt, a pink camisole top and a blue cardigan with little beads on it and a flower in my hair. Flowers are another thing I collect. You can get them in Accessorize. They always look good. Just like berets.
Independent

Sir Alan Sugar: 'I should have sacked Michael Sophocles far earlier'
By Sean Hamilton Showbiz Editor


Sir Alan Sugar has admitted he should have fired himself - for not sacking cocky Michael Sophocles far earlier.

Outspoken millionaire Sir Alan delivered his scathing judgement just days before the final of this year's BBC1 reality show, which comes to a head on Wednesday.

Arrogant Sophocles, 24, kept surviving the chop when Sir Alan gave him extra chances - thinking he was a young version of himself. But now Sir Alan has admitted it was one of the worst judgements of his career.

He said: "It was a total joke. He was completely useless and clueless. He slipped through the net. Sir Al doesn't get it right all the time.

"All talk. No doing. He had to go. He's no Bill Gates. Very disappointing.

"I thought I saw a glimmer of light and I let him stay about four times."

Earlier in the series, Sophocles had a narrow escape after trying to buy a kosher chicken off a halal stall in a Marrakech souk.

Sir Alan was particularly angry because Sophocles had described himself as a "good Jewish boy" on his application form.

Former Spurs owner Sugar - himself Jewish - quipped: "If you are unsure, we can always pull your trousers down and check."

Later in the series Michael, who became a male escort to pay off gambling debts, escaped being fired after performing badly in a task selling wedding services.

He had boasted early in the show: "I am a natural born salesman. I'm good at it. Selling is my crux. I am the best. And it is not even taught. It is just there in me, in my blood. I was born to sell."

Sir Alan made him team leader for the next task - renting out supercars. But the North London telesales executive blundered by taking his Ferrari to a market, parking outside a takeaway shop and failing to generate any business.

Sir Alan said: "He had to take the cars somewhere where people had lots of money. Where did he go? Bloody Portobello Market. Then he turns up outside a doner kebab shop and tried to sell a car for £1k a day. He was totally and utterly useless. He had no idea."

Sophocles was brought back to the boardroom to be told: "You're fired."

Sir Alan added: "What I saw in the end was someone full of themselves. But when you look at it he can do sodall. Nothing.

"Michael's perception of himself is that nothing in the world can stop him. That he's a super salesman.

"I saw something in him that was similar to me when I was younger. And I kept giving him chances."

Mirror