The Apprentice: Shazia Hussain is fired by Lord Sugar
The Apprentice: Shazia Hussain is fired by Lord Sugar following chaotic electric motorbike task – after making complaint about co-star Mark Moseley in race row
Shazia Hussain became the latest candidate on The Apprentice to be fired by Lord Sugar on Thursday night’s episode.
The technology recruiter said goodbye to the process after week five saw the candidates are tasked with branding an electric motorbike and creating an advertising campaign before pitching to a panel of experts.
It comes as The Apprentice has been rocked by a race row, with show bosses launching an investigation after Shazia complained that fellow contestant Mark Moseley racially abused her.
Firing Shazia in the boardroom Lord Sugar said: ‘Shazia, I like people who admit their mistakes. The problem here is that there were so many mistakes.
‘If it was one thing fair enough, overlook it, another thing, fair enough, overlook it. But there were so many mistakes. Shazia it is with regret that you’re fired.’
Exit: Shazia Hussain became the latest candidate on The Apprentice to be fired by Lord Sugar on Thursday night’s episode
Shazia said in the famous taxi afterwards: ‘I think Lord Sugar made a mistake firing me. He’s missed out on a great investment opportunity, but he’s going to have to live with it.’
During the episode, Shazia was keen to put herself forward on the branding team because of her media degree where she studied modules on advertising.
This led to her becoming the sub-team leader, but not many of the suggestions made were from Shazia herself initially.
She came into more ideas when the team chose the name ‘Zip Zap’, as she designed the logo to feature checkered flags on the circles within the letter P.
This did not go down well with their market research findings as members of the public thought it was the letter F instead, making the name ‘Zif Zaf’.
Fans of the show were quick to comment on the not-so-great result of their advertising campaign, with one writing: ‘What in the GCSE Business Studies is going on here.’
Another said: ‘I can’t believe that Shazia is doubling down on the load of rubbish that she earlier admitted responsibility for. Wait, I absolutely can believe it.’
A third simply wrote: ‘Fire all three.’ Another added: ‘I feel sorry for the designers, these lot come up with garbage.’
Over: The technology recruiter said goodbye to the process after week five saw the candidates are tasked with branding an electric motorbike and creating an advertising campaign before pitching to a panel of experts
Someone else said: ‘Shazia is off surely!!! She was a disaster for this task.’
In her exit interview Shazia went into more detail about why she thought she deserved to stay in the process.
She explained: ‘It was my first time in the bottom three and I was surprised that I wasn’t given another opportunity, especially given the fact that I’d made some serious contributions in all of the tasks that I was involved in.
‘I was honest as well and took responsibility for mistakes and my teams. I think I demonstrated I’m honest, hardworking and have ideas that are memorable. I think that’s valuable and should count.’
Team: During the episode, Shazia was keen to put herself forward on the branding team because of her media degree where she studied modules on advertising.
Leading: This led to her becoming the sub-team leader, but not many of the suggestions made were from Shazia herself initially
Shazia then gave her thoughts on what she thinks the key to succeeding in business is.
She said: ‘For me, the key to success is coming up with memorable ideas that are unique within the marketplace and having integrity, telling the truth and being honest. Those are the things that define success to me.’
On what she wants to do next now the show is finished she added: ‘To champion neurodiversity for the corporate and business sector and to enable children that have come from backgrounds similar to mine to maximise their potential.
Ideas: She came into more ideas when the team chose the name ‘Zip Zap’, as she designed the logo to feature checkered flags on the circles within the letter P
‘A well as what I’ve done over the last 15 years, making lots of money and being successful at a job that I love and to create new, unique business ideas. And to carry on being a boss.
‘I want Gourmet Mithai (her desert brand) to be in Fortnum & Mason, Harrods and major retailers. Selling into corporate events too, looking to build that business into one of Britain’s top dessert brands.’
Her exit from the show comes after Shazia complained that fellow contestant Mark had racially abused her.
Brainstorming: This did not go down well with their market research findings as members of the public thought it was the letter F instead, making the name ‘Zif Zaf’
Shazia reported pest control company owner Mark, 39, to producers after being left ‘distressed’ by the alleged incident.
Although no details of what reportedly happened have been made public, the incident was apparently caught on camera, which the BBC chose not to broadcast.
A TV source told MailOnline: ‘Shazia was really upset by the way she was treated and at times didn’t feel safe living in the Apprentice house.
‘Disaster’: Fans of the show were quick to comment on the not-so-great result of their advertising campaign, with one writing: ‘What in the GCSE Business Studies is going on here’
‘She can’t believe in this day and age she would be subjected to racially motivated bullying.
‘Candidates were shocked that Mark was able to carry on filming the show despite animosity building behind the scenes.
‘The show casts candidates of different ethnicities and backgrounds and the expectation is for each person to respect each other, which wasn’t the case during filming of the current series.’
Not happy: Firing Shazia in the boardroom Lord Sugar said: ‘Shazia, I like people who admit their mistakes. The problem here is that there were so many mistakes’
Boss: He added: ‘If it was one thing fair enough, overlook it, another thing, fair enough, overlook it. But there were so many mistakes. Shazia it is with regret that you’re fired’
The insider added: ‘The incident took place on camera and the candidates in question were wearing microphones so it’s not a case of what he said, she said.’
The alleged incident involving the pair prompted show bosses to invite a ‘diversity and inclusion expert’ into The Apprentice house to remind the candidates of workplace conduct.
A spokesperson from The Apprentice told MailOnline: ‘The Apprentice has a zero tolerance on racist bullying.
Difficult: It comes as The Apprentice has been rocked by a race row, with show bosses launching an investigation after Shazia complained that fellow contestant Mark Moseley racially abused her
‘The duty of care and welfare of all candidates is of utmost importance and when action is required, we take it.
‘All candidates sign up to strict code of conduct and if there was evidence of racist bullying candidates would be immediately removed from the process. We take all complaints very seriously.’
MailOnline understands that Mark, who’s still a candidate in the running for Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment, may not appear on spinoff show You’re Fired or at filming of the final Apprentice episode.
He may also not be invited to the recording of You’re Hired, a show hosted by comedian Tom Allen where the winning candidate is celebrated, and the rest of the cast reflect on the highs and lows of the series.
Tough: Shazia reported pest control company owner Mark, 39, to producers after being left ‘distressed’ by the alleged incident
A show source added: ‘Invitations to the final episode of The Apprentice are based on candidate availability and production’s discretion. The same applies to You’re Fired and You’re Hired, and arrangements are made close to the time of filming.’
Shazia spoke out in a now-deleted TikTok video about the bullying she faced during filming of The Apprentice.
The candidate referred back to episode three of the series where the teams were challenged with creating a cartoon suitable for 2–4-year-olds.
Working in team Affinity alongside co-star Mark, Shazia put forward the idea of naming their children’s character Yogita, explaining to her colleagues, ‘I was thinking of creating a female character of ethnic descent like maybe Indian… Yogita the Giraffe.’
After facing some criticism from her co-workers, she added: ‘I thought it was very important to have a name that was representative of the entire population out there. It’s actually not that difficult to pronounce.’
On TikTok, she said: ‘Does anyone else think it’s really ironic that the team wanted to do a task about diversity and inclusivity yet none of them understood what diversity and inclusivity is.
‘It means that when you have a set of different opinions, you appreciate those differences and work with those differences, and you don’t reject them.
‘But notice that my team didn’t do that, they were incredibly offended by the name Yogita way more than what was shown on the show yesterday.’
She continued: ‘I was actually really attacked for the name Yogita, which I can confirm happened really severely off camera but the footage they did capture didn’t make it onto the edit because I think that viewers would have found it really disturbing.
Bargaining: Pest control company owner Mark narrowly missed being fired during last week’s episode when his team lost the latest task and he faced a grilling in the boardroom
‘At the end of the day we’re just trying to make a little cartoon character about an Indian giraffe.’
Shazia confirmed in the video that she officially reported the bullying after the end of the task.
She said: ‘In all seriousness, I actually felt unsafe in the house living with that level of animosity that was directed at me.’
The London-based business owner explains on her Instagram profile that she ‘champions a varied representation of diverse women in the world of business.’
She added: ‘Watch me on this year’s Apprentice where I shine a light on diversity, inclusion and neurodiversity.’
Upset: Shazia was disappointed after facing criticism from her co-stars over naming their children’s cartoon character Yogita, an Indian giraffe she hoped would be ‘representative of the entire population out there’
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