HOW APPRENTICE’S I whack Lord Sugar with my heels if he insults West Ham
IT’S all kicking off on The Apprentice – even before the candidates have arrived.
There’s a rivalry as fierce as any likely to ignite between the bumbling business wannabes when the series returns on Wednesday.
But this boardroom bust-up has nothing to do with business and everything to do with football.
On the one side is Alan Sugar, fan and former chairman of Tottenham Hotspur.
On the other is his aide Karren Brady, fan and vice chairman of Premier League rival West Ham.
Their banter can get really heated. In the past it has boiled over – with Lord Sugar once getting a kick under the table.
Most of the barbed comments and teasing are never seen by the hit series’ millions of fans.
But Lord Sugar finds it difficult to hide his feelings when Spurs play badly and the contestants bear the brunt of his frustration.
Baroness Brady, 48, known as The First Lady of Football, said: “Claude and Alan are both Spurs supporters and I’m a West Ham supporter. There are constant digs in the boardroom. Not a lot of them make it on screen because some of them are quite rude.
Screams
“You can always tell whether Alan is in a good or bad mood if we are filming on a Saturday if his team has won or lost. And vice versa with me.”
All three have TV showing Sky Sports in their rooms as they get ready for the show. Lady Brady said: “You hear screams, particularly when West Ham play Tottenham. That can be intense.
“When the candidates go out, Alan always goes: ‘ What’s the score? What’s the score?’ The cameraman has to have it ready.
“He’s definitely tougher when Tottenham aren’t doing well. The candidates aren’t aware of this.”
But Lady Brady has also had trouble controlling her temper and vividly remembers when Lord Sugar wound her up too much.
She said: “We were talking about something being empty on the show and Alan said, ‘It’s as empty as West Ham’s trophy cabinet.’
“I wear a nice top and skirt and normally trainers under the table but not this time. My stiletto went bang into his ankle.”
It’s normally The Apprentice candidates who are in for a kicking.
And this year’s batch of 18 budding entrepreneurs will not be spared Lord Sugar’s sharp-tongued remarks. There are 18 hopefuls in this, the 13th series, despera desperately trying to impress Clau Claude Littner, Lady Brady and L Lord Sugar and win £250,000 of investment. Among the tasks they will take on to test their businessbusin know- how are flogg flogging burgers and building robo robots. The wannabes also get to travel to Bruges in Belgium,Belgiu organise an event at Wemb Wembley and even try interior design design. Lord Sugar has turned 70 but reaching this landmark age does not mean he will go soft on this year’syea crop. But L Lady Brady has witness witnessed a gent gentler side of the no-nonsense tycoon that viewers don’t always see.
She said: “I’ve known him for decades but one of the things you won’t know is that a lot of the t i me he brings his grandchildren with him to the boardroom.
“They come and have lunch with us. He’s a real family man. You see a different side to him.
“His bark is worse than his bite. But his bark is pretty bad.”
An adviser to Lord Sugar on The Apprentice for eight years now, Lady Brady revealed she insisted on equal pay when she took the job.
And she has stuck up for female presenters earning less than their male counterparts in the BBC gender pay gap. Lady Brady said: