Former Apprentice contestant Nick Showering has responded to rumours that suggested he was working 'undercover'. The 31-year-old finance manager made his exit from the show in last week's episode (February 24).
Whilst he was in the competition, Nick became a favourite amongst viewers for his unconventional dance moves and unintentional comedic value. Many fans were upset to see him go, with some commenting on his TikToks that they were 'going to cry' after his departure, and questioning why he was eliminated.
After his team failed to host a successful corporate awayday at Silverstone, Nick was fired by Lord Sugar. Now that he has left the competition, he has come clean about his experience to the Daily Star, and has also shared his thoughts on the conspiracy theory that he was 'working undercover'.
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Nick has confirmed that, despite the rampant fan theory that he was an undercover journalist, comedian or spy, he was just a regular contestant on the show. He said: "A friend did send them to me.
"I don't know whether it is like a diss or a compliment, but I'm sort of going with the compliment. No, Lord Sugar does not have an aide he has planted in the house - I am a candidate - so I can nip that in the bud.
"I can confirm I'm a candidate. I don't know where it comes from - hopefully it has come from a good place and people read it and go oh, that's funny. I'm taking it as a bit of a compliment, but unfortunately no, the rumours are not true."
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The 31-year-old, who is looking to make a name for himself in the soft drinks industry after working in the 'shadow' of the family business, said he was 'surprised but touched' to discover how viewers perceived him. He said: "I remember in the application, you talk about yourself a bit and I said, I'm not that funny - but I'm quite fun. I'd normally describe myself as quite fun to be around if you're out and about.
"It has actually been a massive compliment. People seem to have enjoyed watching, so that feels nice to know."
In last week's episode, Nick's last appearance on the show, he and fellow contestant Akshay took on responsibility for the catering during their racing day event, which included cooking the meals. But it did not go as expected.
After Stephanie and Kathryn ended their interactive museum tour early, the away day guests were left waiting for their food because caterers Akshay and Nick were not anticipating them to turn up so soon. The unprepared pair also made the mistake of bringing the food in through the wrong entrance, in full view of their waiting guests.
Despite the task not going to plan, Nick admitted that he enjoyed every minute of it, and did not blame Steph for the unexpected early arrival of the guests. He said: "I don't think Steph did that on purpose, I just think she didn't know the tour well enough, so I think it was unintentional from her."
He added: "The Silverstone task - so much fun. I loved it. I had a lot of fun during the process - the logo for task one, the Cornwall tour, there have been a couple of highlights."
After the task had wrapped up, all four members of the team were brought into the boardroom by Lord Sugar, where Stephanie and Kathryn were informed that neither of them had listened to their client in the initial meeting. Lord Sugar also questioned the duo on whether they thought Nick and Akshay were 'a pair of grand pr***s', before he decided to fire Nick.
Pointing his finger in Nick's direction, the business magnate told him: "I'm not sure what you have given me in the past eight weeks. I waited for you to get off the starting line, but regretfully the chequered flag has been waved."
Despite Lord Sugar's harsh comments towards Nick and his subsequent firing, he has confessed that he was not surprised he was fired, and that his respect for Lord Sugar grew throughout the competition. He said: "I was on pretty thin ice after the pod task.
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"I knew as we'd lost the task at Silverstone, I was in huge trouble. I then obviously had the lunch situation go down, where we were having a bit too much fun in there, me and Akshay, and lost track of time.
"I was leading that, so I thought I was going to in a bit of trouble in that boardroom. Anything can happen there though. I didn't know for sure I was going, but I had a bit of an idea."
He added: "We don't actually really work with Lord Sugar or his aides, but what I would say is that spending time with Lord Sugar in the boardroom, my respect for him definitely went up. He's a lot quicker on his feet, he's a lot funnier. His business sense is a lot greater than I expected. I was honestly very, very impressed with him."
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