THE Apprentice’s Kieran McCartney revealed he smoked 800 cigarettes during his 10 weeks on the show in a bid to ease the stress.
walked away from the boardroom last week after striking a deal with Lord Sugar that he would fall on his sword if he did not lead his team to victory as project manager.
Kieran McCartney got through hundreds of cigarettes during his time on The ApprenticeCredit: PA
admitted in an exclusive interview with The Sun that he was glad he avoided the dreaded interview round and added that he wouldn’t have beat his show bestie Karishma Vijay anyway.
When it came to keeping cool in and around the tough tasks, Kieran credited his cigs with helping him out.
He arrived at house with a carton of 200, but it quickly became apparent that would not be enough and his family rallied to send him weekly top ups.
“By the end of it, I think I’d done 800,” he told us. “I used to have a family that sent me 200 cards in every few weeks.”
He only had limited contact with relatives for the duration of the show, but that was enough to get what he needed.
When asked if it was tough being limited to such a short call, Kieran laughed: “No, it’s perfect, mate. It’s perfect because they want to ask all these questions, but they can’t ask you questions about the show.
“So, they kind of just go, ‘what have you been up to?’ And I’m like, ‘well, I can’t tell you. What have you been up to?’ They tell me. I’m like, ‘right, yeah, cool. See you later’. I’m still alive. I’m fine.”
This year’s series opened amongst the towering skyscrapers of hot and humid Hong Kong and included a corporate exercise in Egypt.
That episode, in week six, saw Lord Sugar make Apprentice history when fired three candidates for what he called the worst performance in the show’s 20-year history.
The estate agent fell on his sword in the quarter-finalCredit: PA
“Obviously you watch it and you see an hour of what happens over the course of three days,” said Kieran. “So it’s 100 per cent so much more difficult than you could ever imagine by watching it.
“It’s a lot more intense. There’s a lot of waiting around, which for someone like me, that’s really not good because I can’t sit still. But again, because you’re then waiting around to either do a pitch or to go into the boardroom.
“So tensions build. And then because tensions are building, people start getting a bit agitated, a bit short-tempered. So it is quite difficult in that respect.”
Pascha Myhill, Karishma, Dan Miller, Lawrence Rosenberg and Priyesh Bathia will battle it out in tonight’s semi-final, with only two progressing to the final.
Kieran will be watching alongside Surrey-based beauty brand owner Karishma and is confident she will win out.
He said: “So she’s already got a successful business that runs. She’s got a big following already and overall I just think she’s the better business person.”
The candidates went to Egypt in week sixCredit: BBC
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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