Claire Young is surprised Lee McQueen won The Apprentice
Thursday, 12 June 2008
Apprentice runner-up Claire Young is surprised that Alan Sugar didn't choose her in the boardroom.
29 year-old Claire, who had been the favourite to win the series, told the official Apprentice website: "I just thought this year is going to be the year he’ll employ a woman. But no.
"I think of all those thousands of girls who watch The Apprentice and every year he chooses the safe option of a boy, who is the quiet one who sits there saying, 'Yes, Sir Alan, no, Sir Alan, three bags full, Sir Alan'.
"I thought 'no, times change,' and I thought I’d be the woman to do it. But obviously not.
She doesn't think she has much in common with former recruitment sales manager Lee: "I think Lee and I are very different candidates. Lee is probably an easier person for Sir Alan to mould.
"Life goes on and I’m very much my own woman. I feel I learned from my Alan Sugar chapter and I’m ready to move on to the next big thing."
Claire wishes Lee all the best in his new role: "I think maybe Lee is much more of an Apprentice, while I’m the finished article. He would do anything for Sir Alan. I would draw the line.
"Lee is definitely the right person to do the Apprentice job that Sir Alan wants him to do."
Not winning was hard for Claire to take at first: "Initially, I was absolutely devastated. But I’m a great believer in, 'What’s meant to be is meant to be'. Sir Alan had to take a step back and think 'Where does this person fit into my business?'
"I'm going to relax in the next couple of weeks and consider my next step. I'm going in to see Karren Brady about a potential role at her football club. Or I may start my own business - I've already registered the company name.
"The main thing is to be true to myself. If I’m sitting there in six months time, I want to know I'm going to be really happy, driven and enthusiastic."
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Image credits: WENN/BBC
Interview credit: BBC
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