A SCOTTISH eBay car trader, a quantum physicist, and Kate Middleton's former boss are among the fresh batch of contestants vying for a job with Sir Alan Sugar.
A SCOTTISH eBay car trader, a quantum physicist, and Kate Middleton's former boss are among the fresh batch of contestants vying for a job with Sir Alan Sugar.
Other hopefuls unveiled yesterday as the third series of The Apprentice transfers the show to prime-time TV were an ex-Army lieutenant, a housewife, and three single mothers.
At stake when the programme moves from BBC2 to BBC1 and kicks off next Wednesday is a £100,000-a-year job with the Amstrad tycoon.
Among the sixteen contenders are two Scots. Andy Jackson, 36, from Kirriemuir, trades cars on eBay, and Ghazal Asif, 23, from Glasgow, is a business development manager who can speak five languages.
Mr Jackson, a father of three, spends his spare time playing online poker. His first money-making venture was at the age of five when he sold firewood to neighbours on his council estate. While at school, he had a part-time job in Woolworths. "My passions are winning, winning and winning," he said.
Ms Asif is the youngest candidate to appear on The Apprentice and boldly states that she plans to be a millionaire by the time she is 30. In her previous job she was responsible for a turnover of £6m of services.
"I rate myself as a talented individual with strong business acumen," she said.
Scots have previously done well out of the show. One former contestant, Sharon McAllister, 31, who appeared last year and Jackie Smith, 36, a former BBC director who has worked on Newsnight and Horizon, launched Scotland's first national internet TV station and is now planning an Apprentice-style show.
Also among this year's contenders is Rory Laing, 27, who previously ran a catering firm supplying public school-educated bar staff for Henley Regatta. Prince William's girlfriend, Kate Middleton, was on his staff. He said of Ms Middleton in 2004: "I pay her only £5.25 an hour. But she's pretty, so she takes plenty in tips." Mr Laing, from Bristol, is now bankrupt and working as a waiter.
Female hopefuls include Gerri Blackwood, a 33-year-old from Surrey, who gave up a job offer with MI5 to take part in The Apprentice.
Katie Hopkins, 31, a global brand consultant from Devon, was sponsored through university by the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and claims she can "out press-up" the men.
Most intellectual of the bunch is quantum physicist Sophie Kain, 32, from Wales. She has a PhD in theoretical physics.
Challenges in the new series include selling British produce at a French farmers' market, designing accessories for dogs, and selling sweets at London Zoo.
