Lily Waddell
·Entertainment News Editor
·5-min read
The Apprentice's Onyeka Nweze tells Yahoo of her surprise at being the latest to be fired after she stumbled in the all-important client pitch in the Formula E challenge. Lord Alan Sugar called her "charming" and "intellectual" in his firing speech but chose to save DJ Virdi Singh Manaria as well as project manager and dentist Dr Paul Midha.
By stark comparison, The Apprentice's winning team broke records for the most money raised in the competition's task - smashing the previous record of £1.2 million secured in the Electric Bikes task in series 15.
When you go into the boardroom we've got these little suitcases and we're told to pack overnight clothes just incase we get fired. But I didn't pack my anything in mine because I said, 'I'm coming back.'
I was that confident in myself that I wasn't gonna go home. All the girls packed my things when I left. You don't go in there with the first thought that you are going to make best friends for life but I came out with some amazing friends and it's the last thing I thought I would do. It's a competition but you're all in a house in the same vulnerable position and you don't have a choice but to get along.
I was absolutely not the right person to be fired this week. There were a lot of errors, obviously myself slipping up during the pitch but that happens every day. We lost the task because of the branding and the logo. Also in terms of my performance throughout the process, I've definitely proved myself as a strong candidate and it wasn't my time to go.
In my mind, I knew where the fault in the task lied. We did not secure sponsorships because of the branding. So out of the three of us, Virdi should have gone because he was the person in charge of the branding.
I did hold my hands up and say, 'Yes I was in charge of the ethos.' Also, Paul was the project manager and the one with the experience in that field. If he thought I wasn't doing enough, he should have quickly jumped in to help because that's what I would have done as project manager. It was supposed to be a team effort.
I'm not usually a nervous person. I'm quite confident and I pitch a lot, it's part of my corporate career. This time it was a completely new topic that I didn't know much about. And in terms of the time constraints, I had to learn all the facts and statistics. I crammed too quickly and then just went completely blank. We did a run through before but in the pitch but I just could not recollect the figures that I'd just learned. It was probably one of the hardest pitches that I have ever done.
I think it's easy to look back and say I would do this differently but in the moment you're not thinking. You are in such a pressured environment and because of time constraints, there is a lot of information you need to absorb. Sometimes it's a matter of minutes or hours. I would just give it my best if I had my time on The Apprentice again.
The boardroom is as intense as it looks. You will have seen it from my facial expression. When Lord Sugar told me I was charming and intellectual in the boardroom, I didn't take it in. I was just thinking, please do not fire me. I completely zoned out because I didn't want to hear that one word. Honestly, I do appreciate his kind words because he doesn't often compliment the candidates on their way out. It's nice he acknowledged it on national television. It was just unfortunate I went out.
Lord Sugar is exactly how he looks. He's not scary whatsoever. He's extremely funny. He's a no nonsense, successful businessman. I showed what I was capable of in the process and one of the highlights for me was task one where I put myself forward as project manager. From The Apprentice, I have learned to always find a positive spin on something - even if it doesn't work out the way you want it to.
When you get on the show, it's just not as easy as it looks. I've watched every single season of The Apprentice and you think 'I can do it better' but when you get on you literally make the same mistakes. I don't know if I could face another TV show.
Outside of the show, I'm a private person. So it was a bit hard for me to adjust to the cameras at first but as time goes on, you realise that you're actually there to work and you almost forget that the cameras are there. Having gone through the process, Dragons' Den would be a walk in the park. People don't realise how hard it is to get on The Apprentice. It's 80,000 applications and only 18 people get picked. What are the odds?
I'm still pursuing my business Government Elite, a legal technology software. When a company has board meetings, it enables directors to access meeting packs and meeting papers on a secure platform which enhances data protection and privacy, rather than sending documents about pay rises through emails that are susceptible to phishing attacks. I'm still looking for investment and I'm not going to stop.
Onyeka Nweze told her story to Lily Waddell.
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