Fired Apprentice candidate Siobhan Smith blames 'bad editing' for Karren Brady 'sexism' clash

During the first episode, Siobhan was challenged by Karren Brady after she seemed to suggest that the more attractive members of the all-female team should go to the City location as they would "be good to sell to men" when it came to shifting burgers.

Brady's reaction to Siobhan was praised by viewers, but Siobhan has said that her comments were misrepresented.

"No, it wasn’t what I meant," she told us. "At the end of the day, it was a strategic decision to win the task in the market that we were going to. And I stand by what I said.

"I’m just angry that I actually backtracked. It all got out of hand and it was edited for good TV. I got a backlash and a lot of abuse off the back of that. It was edited in a way that I wasn’t happy with because it wasn’t true to me and anyone who’s ever worked with me, and knows me, knows that."

The wedding planning company owner also reflected that the teams remained largely divided between men and women, hinting that the decision was taken not to mix them up in order to retain friction between some of the candidates.

"In hindsight they should’ve mixed the teams up," she said. "Normally in week two they do, and then it’s a different dynamic. It’s sometimes good to have a change of blood, isn’t it? But I think they [kept the teams the same] because they wanted to see the women potentially argue, and it’s a shame really because it could’ve been totally different."

“I don’t backstab – I always say I stab from the front, not from the back,” she said of her upfront style, that saw her clash with the likes of fellow candidates Elizabeth McKenna and Sarah Lynn. “People might not like the fact that I’m direct and I say it to your face.”

However, Siobhan was adamant that after filming the show she has now “moved on” and doesn’t have a problem with any of her fellow candidates.

“We all get on now,” she said. “We realised that we were in a bubble and what happened, happened. We’re all in contact and no-one has any problems with each other, but at the time it all seems a lot worse than it is.

Citing the robotics task in week three which saw her come to blows with nearly everyone on the team, and Karren Brady commenting that the girls’ arguing had “all gone off in the most horrific way”, Siobhan did say that she was left “really upset” by the incidents.

“It was hard for me, that one, because what people don’t realise is that I wasn’t nasty to anybody. I was just saying what I felt, which I had the right to do. I’m not a negative person, I’m just the person who says it as it is. I’m a realist – I think maybe sometimes in life people don’t want to hear it. But it did upset me that task.”

Asked what went wrong during this task, which saw the candidates have to put on VIP experiences at the Women's FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, wedding events owner Siobhan said: "It was very hard when I got fired because I didn’t do anything wrong, and in real life I would’ve smashed it.

"As far as I was concerned, Lord Sugar put me in charge of his clients, giving them a good time and making money – and I did what he asked for. We made a profit, gave the clients a good time and were very professional. That’s why I struggled with the decision because I felt like I shouldn’t have got fired for doing a good job."

Asked if she would have done anything differently during the process, Siobhan said: "Probably not. Maybe I could’ve played the game better, but at the end of the day people might not have all liked me because I’m very direct and I say it as it is. But I’ve been true to myself and that’s how I always am in life.

"I stayed true to what I believe and I’m probably not the right person for Lord Sugar in hindsight. But I still think I was a strong candidate and I should’ve stayed in longer than I did."

The Apprentice airs Wednesdays at 9pm on BBC1