Apprentice reject: I'm not gritty

By Sinead Garvan
Newsbeat entertainment reporter

The latest reject is backing 30-year-old Lee McQueen to win

Entrepreneur Raef Bjayou claims he was fired from The Apprentice because he was not a "gritty" enough character for Sir Alan Sugar.

The 27-year-old was told he was full of hot air before being booted out of the boardroom and off the programme.

His team Renaissance lost this week's task, which was to make a TV advert to market a new brand of tissues.

Raef Bjayou said: "I think he's looking for a slightly rougher and more jagged character [than me]."

But Raef wasn't too upset with Sir Alan Sugar remarks.

He said: "There has to be an element of drama.

"Maybe he struggled to come up with a suitable derogatory remark. It was probably the best thing to say at the time, it's not necessarily 'cos it's 100% true."

Mistakes

Raef made the crucial mistake of not showing the tissue box in his team's commercial and hiring weathergirl Sian Lloyd to star in it when the task had nothing to do with the weather.

It takes people in the profession years to do what we've done and we did it in two days Raef Bjayou

They also called their product I Love My Tissues, which didn't go down well with Sir Alan Sugar.

Entrepreneur Raef admitted they may have looked a bit stupid at times.

"We're under extreme pressure, it takes people in the profession years to do what we've done and we did it in two days and occasionally we come across as not the most business-like people but that is more to do with the edit," he said.

Boardroom Battle

When it came to the crunch in front of Sir Alan, fellow contestant Michael Sophocles looked after number one.

Raef wasn't too upset by Sir Alan's comments in the boardroom

He claimed he was the only one who came up with all the good parts of the task.

Raef wasn't pleased: "That was Michael's Judas moment... not that I'm calling myself Christ.

"Michael had a different agenda, I always said if I win this, I was going to do this with honesty."

No Regrets

Looking back on the series Raef told Newsbeat he's not embarrassed by anything he said or did on the show.

"I'm a very tongue-in-cheek guy. At first people didn't know me but by week two people realised I don't actually take myself that seriously."

However he does wish he'd rephrased his now famous quote "I get on with prince and pauper" and instead said he gets on with people from all walks of life.

Raef was one of the favourites to win and said he's had a great reaction from people since he's been out.

Lee to Win

"I had to starve for a day because I couldn't (get out to) buy groceries from my supermarket. It's been very humbling with people saying you should've won."

He's now backing 30-year-old Lee McQueen to win.

"I think he has got enthusiasm and a buoyancy that's very important," he said.

"He's just a guy who's willing to learn and willing to try. He's not worried to throw mud against the wall and hope some of it will stick."

As for Raef he's going back to his own business but says he's happy to explore any offers that come his way.