Apprentice candidate Kieran McCartney quit the show after back-to-back task failures – storming out of the boardroom before Lord Sugar could fire him.
Kieran, 27, lost the latest challenge, to create a pet lifestyle brand and product, as well as his deal with Lord Sugar.
During last week’s episode, the estate agent struck a dramatic ‘win or walk’ agreement with the business mogul, 79, after landing on the losing team in a live shopping channel task.
He said: ‘I’ve been project manager twice on the same task, if I stay in this process, I would like to be the project manager on task 10 to prove to you what I can do. If I lose, we shake hands, I walk out.’
Lord Sugar instead fired his rival, Conor Galvin, before granting Kieran his request – with a warning.
‘You wanted to be project manager, you’ve got it,’ he said. ‘The bad news is, it’s got nothing to do with selling houses.’ Kieran stood firm, replying: ‘If I lose, I’ll walk.’
Apprentice candidate Kieran McCartney quit the show after back-to-back task failures – storming out of the boardroom before Lord Sugar could fire him
Kieran, lost the latest challenge, to create a pet lifestyle brand and product, as well as his deal with Lord Sugar
However, the pact spectacularly backfired when Kieran lost Thursday evening’s challenge, as his cat product failed to attract sales.
After missing out on a place in the final five and the chance to secure Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment, Kieran said: ‘It was win or walk. I’m not a beg. I’m not going to beg for my place, a deal’s a deal and Lord Sugar hasn’t seen the last of me.’
Kieran added: ‘I think I am quite loud and out there and I am quite an easy person to blame if it all goes wrong because I put my ideas out, whereas some people don’t get noticed as much. I could have stayed if I had fought for my spot.’
Alongside Kieran’s departure, his teammate Rothna Akhtar, who confessed to a fear of animals, was also fired from the process.
Reflecting on her exit, she said: ‘It was disappointing in that immediate moment, but it wasn’t a complete shock because I was standing against Dan, who I knew had a really good business.
‘I was in shock because I was so close to the final five and I just felt this wave of disappointment. But slight relief because it’s an intense process. It was gut-wrenching when you’re so close to making final five.’
Kieran sealed his fate last week when he tried and failed to make sales on a live shopping channel.
Watching the challenge unfold from the comfort of his home, Lord Sugar was left unimpressed as Kieran struggled to flog a yoga mat.
Kieran sealed his fate last week when he tried and failed to make sales on a live shopping channel – leaving boss Lord Sugar unimpressed
Alongside Kieran’s departure, his teammate Rothna Akhtar, who confessed to a fear of animals, was also fired from the process
Last month, Kieran admitted struggling with a cocaine addiction, even using his work phone to contact dealers before and after his appearance on the BBC show.
He told a newspaper that he would spend around £500 a week on drugs but insisted he was clean during filming, which took place last year.
Reflecting on how his addiction escalated, he said: ‘It always came if I had a few drinks. I couldn’t drink without doing it. I’d maybe have four pints, then a little bit, and then another four pints.’
Kieran, now running his own estate agency, McCartney and Partners, hit back at claims he was ‘wired’ on The Apprentice.
He revealed he brought more than 200 cigarettes into the north London multi-million-pound house where the candidates live to cope with stress – but denied taking any drugs.
‘The Apprentice was an amazing experience – mentally very stressful,’ he said.
‘But I’m in a good place now. It didn’t even cross my mind once. I would have loved a beer, absolutely. It was summertime. It was hot.
‘But drugs? No. Definitely not. I had about 200 cigarettes on me when I went into the house. That was it. There’s a lot of people online saying a lot of things about a lot of people. I would say to them, ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’.’
The Apprentice airs Thursdays on BBC One and is available to stream on iPlayer
