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After the Apprentice

Who needs Lord Sugar?

After the Apprentice

Five former Apprentice contestants who felt the fear — and went on to do something completely different

NICHOLAS DE LACY-BROWN

Surrealist

As the first casualty of Series 4, this former barrister claimed that his team disliked him, not because of selling lobsters for a lower price than they were bought for, but because he was “into art and culture”. So they’d probably hate to know that he’s now an award-winning surrealist painter whose work has been displayed in Copenhagen’s Nyhavn gallery.

ANITA SHAH

Novelist

She may have been the first to wheel a suitcase out of Series 5 after bragging about her “rainbow of skills”, but Shah now has her sights on joining Lord Sugar on the Amazon bestseller charts, having left her previous career as a lawyer to become a full-time writer. Credits include an Apprentice blog for The Daily Telegraph and an upcoming debut novel entitled Friends In Law.

KATIE HOPKINS

Politician

The self-dubbed “alpha female” of Series 3 has attempted to install her infamously bolshie demeanour on the frontline of politics. So far, she’s been unsuccessful in running as an independent MEP, but has quenched her thirst for debate with turns on Question Time, on which she recently defended Sky Sports’ Andy Gray.

JAMES McQUILLAN

Horse-racing pundit

Since falling at the second-to-last hurdle on The Apprentice in 2009, McQuillan (pictured) has been cutting his teeth as a horse-racing pundit. He currently works for racecourse consortium The Jockey Club and is the race-day presenter on its TV channel at Kempton Park.

IFTI CHAUDHRI

Martial artist

Even Nick and Margaret had something to fear when this martial arts enthusiast joined Series 3. Upon leaving the show, he unsuccessfully applied for a place on the British tae kwon do team for the 2012 Olympics, but has since displayed brick-smashing abilities at charity fundraising events. He also runs five tae kwon do clubs.

(Main image: PA)