The Apprentice suffered a double departure as contestant Aleksandra King walked off the BBC1 show protesting against 'limited' contact with her family
A shock double departure hit The Apprentice in week four after candidate Aleksandra King quit the show before the task had even begun.
The 38-year-old left the hit programme alongside Mukai Noiri, who was fired by Lord Sugar after struggling during a fashion task in which the two teams took over luxury London department store Liberty.
While Team Titan appointed their project manager, Team Nebula were left stunned as Aleksandra declared that she was 'sorry' but she was 'not enjoying' the competition before leaving the room.
The mother-of-three told the Press Association she quit the BBC programme because of the lack of contact allowed with her family.
“The work-life balance was off. Since when is that an admirable business skill? It is not on any level.
“The contact that I was allowed with my family was really very limited to the point where it was just not acceptable for me.”
Meanwhile Mukai, also part of Team Nebula, was taken into the board room by project manager Grainne McCoy, alongside Karthik Nagesan, after they only managed to sell £4,371 worth of luxury goods to Team Titan’s £5,259.
The marketing manager paid the price for encouraging Grainne to opt for selling handbags over scarves, with Lord Sugar telling him that decision proved he 'didn’t have the potential of being my business partner'.
Aleksandra, who was born in Poland and grew up in South Africa, said her decision came as a 'massive shock' to everyone.
And she hit back at Lord Sugar blaming her decision on being 'homesick', saying: “I wouldn’t say it’s homesick. I would just say it is a basic sort of wanting to know your family is OK.”
However Aleksandra said she respected the business mogul who she compared to her father.
“I don’t want to really do things his way. I want to do them my way, I want to be the boss of my boardroom.
“Lord Sugar is very similar to my father. I’m used to dealing with his type.
“I think his feelings were a little bit hurt initially because I’m saying no to him,” she said, before joking that it was because he 'realised he was losing one of his best candidates.'
She added that the show’s 'blame culture' also convinced her to leave, arguing that it 'is not necessary to run a business like that'.
“I think it’s a bit of a traditional approach and it’s not really the way I want to work.”
But Aleksandra said her departure from the show would not mean she was withdrawing from the world of business, adding: “You’re going to see a lot more of me around. Watch this space.
“I’m on a mission now – watch out for Aleksandra King.”
Aleksandra is not the first person to quit the process. Last year Scott Saunders left the show despite his team winning the task and in 2006, Katie Hopkins, now a controversial commentator, walked off the show. Raleigh Addington left in 2010 after his brother was wounded in an explosion in Afghanistan.
