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Sixteen in firing line to fight for Sugar's plum job
By Alexa Baracaia, Evening Standard Last updated at 15:41pm on 20.03.07
The hopefuls: The 16 contestants line up with Sir Alan Sugar
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A London Olympics hopeful, a bankrupt entrepreneur and a quantum physicist are among the fresh batch of contestants vying for a job with tycoon Sir Alan Sugar.
The line-up for the new series of The Apprentice is unveiled today as it transfers to prime-time TV with the producers predicting the biggest audience yet.
Gallery: See profiles of the 16 hopefuls here
Blog: Imogen Ridgway on the new series of The Apprentice
Sixteen aspiring captains of industry will be holed up in a Notting Hill house for up to three months while they battle for the prize of a six-figure executive post alongside Sir Alan.
Among them is martial arts black belt Ifti Chaudhri, 33, from Egham, Surrey, who was a Tae Kwon Do world championship double bronze medallist and is applying to compete in the 2012 Olympics.
A former police officer, Chaudhri insists no one can match his sales technique.
He says: "When you can break bricks with your bare hands, you believe you can do anything."
Pitted against him is Natalie Wood, 29, who recently lost six stone on a WeightWatchers diet.
The mother of two from Upminster, who has a business degree, claims her will-power proves she is determined enough to succeed.
More than 10,000 people applied to take part in the third series of the reality show. The final 16, aged 23 to 36, have all quit their jobs.
Jadine Johnson, 27, a financial adviser from Harrow, displayed entrepreneurial ability at age seven when she used to shrink crisp bags in the oven and sell them as key rings.
Advertising sales manager Naomi Lay, 26, once charged her parents to remove caterpillars from their gooseberry bushes.
Ms Lay, who lives in Vauxhall, says: "People who know me would describe me as loud, motivated, fun, determinedand energetic." It sounds like a recipe for some dramatic clashes.
Perhaps she will meet her match in Simon Ambrose, 27, a Cambridge economics graduate and ex-banker from Clapham, who once posed as a Manchester United agent to get a table for 10 friends at a top restaurant.
Loughton-born marketing consultant Tre Azam, 27, started work at the age of 10 building computers.
Ex- Army lieutenant Paul Callaghan, 27, from Southampton, spent six months serving in Basra.
Gerri Blackwood, 33, from Woking, gave up a new job at MI5 and Dr Sophie Kain, from Wales, has a PhD in theoretical physics but has left her post as a research scientist. Despite their enthusiasm, winning is a mixed blessing. Series one winner Timothy Campbell is still a project director for Amstrad. But last year's success story Michelle Dewberry left after only four months to set up her own business.
Sir Alan tells this year's contestants: "The worst kind of schmooze is, 'Sir Alan, I'm just like you - I came from a humble background'.
"This is no game show. There won't be some busty blonde waiting outside to hug you so that you can sob into her bosom. There will be a black cab waiting to take you to the station."
The contenders
Tre Azam, 27, from, Loughton, marketing consultant, says the show will pit him "against some of the best in the country".
Katie Hopkins, 31, from Exeter, brand consultant and single mother of two, sponsored through university by Sandhurst.
Kristina Grimes, 36, from Harrogate, pharmaceutical sales manager. A single mother, she says: "Sir Alan is an inspiration."
Rory Laing, 27, from Bristol, had three firms before going bankrupt.
Lohit Kalburgi, 25, from London, a telecoms manager. He wants to be seen "as the nice guy".
Adam Hosker, 27, from Lincolnshire, a car sales manager, whose confidence "can become arrogance".
Natalie Wood, 29, from Upminster, a mother of two and former competitive swimmer. She says: "I like how Sir Alan is with people."
Paul Callaghan, 27, from Southampton, served in Iraq. He says: "My leadership qualities are definite strengths."
Jadine Johnson, 27, from Harrow, a financial adviser. The single mother says: "This is my chance to give my daughter a real life."
Gerri Blackwood, 33, from Woking, a transport manager who gave up a new job at MI5 to appear.
Dr Sophie Kain, 32, from Llanellen, Wales, physics graduate and research scientist for an aviation firm.
Ifti Chaudhri, 33, from Egham, Surrey, ex-police officer, owns a tile business.
Andy Jackson, 36, from Kirriemuir, Scotland, trades in cars and on eBay.
Ghazal Asif, 23, from Glasgow, a business development manager. She can speak five languages.
Naomi Lay, 26, from Vauxhall, worked her way from PA to advertising sales team manager. She is "loud, motivated and fun".
Simon Ambrose, 27, from Clapham, an internet entrepreneur since he lost a banking job, says: "My dad bought me an Amstrad PC when I was six."
The Apprentice returns on BBC1 on Wednesday 28 March at 9pm.
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