After

Sir Alan Sugar and the team from The Apprentice series

by Nicola Forman

After two months vying to be Sir Alan Sugar’s Apprentice, Mona Lewis is back in town.

The 28-year-old’s dreams of landing the £100,000 a year job ended in heartache on BBC1 this week when the tycoon dramatically sacked her.

Now hear her tell her heart was no longer in it....and her scathing comments on her fellow contestants.

Sir Alan saw through me...

Those were the words of defeated contestant Mona Lewis, as she recovered from her TV boardroom exit.

The Sittingbourne mother said: “ (Sir Alan) saw I wasn’t there any more. I didn’t want it as much any more. I really was missing my little boy. I missed his sixth birthday.”

On Sir Alan

Despite being given the boot by billionaire Sir Alan, the former Tanzanian beauty queen is full of praise for him, saying he is not the ogre he is portrayed as being.
She said: “We only ever spoke to Sir Alan in the boardroom. He is very sweet and I would say he had a twinkle in his eye – he is human.”
But Mona, who used to work for NatWest in Sittingbourne High Street as a senior business manager, is scathing about some fellow contestants.

On the team

It was a challenge to target the gay market in re-branding Margate that was Mona's nemesis.

She says the team would have won their task to rebrand Margate if fellow team member Howard Ebison had been in charge.
Mona said project manger Debra Barr didn’t listen to her ideas and was the team’s downfall.
Speaking after getting the boot from the show, Mona also launched a scathing attack on fellow contestant Ben Clarke.
She said: “Ben is very obnoxious, he thinks he’s a man who can satisfy any woman and is a bit childish.
“Me and Debra had our differences but give the girl her due she sticks up for herself and good on her.”

Audio: Hear Mona talk about the highs and lows of The Apprentice

Mona said she got on well with Jasmina Siadatan and James McQuillan.
“I really like those two, I will probably keep in touch with them, but Howard is a dark horse and think he’s in with a chance.”
Sir Alan Sugar said he was firing her with regret, adding: “I don’t see any creativity here and I have to start thinking about where you would slot into my organisation.”
She said: “Sir Alan’s already got a job lined up for the winner and he knows exactly what he wants. If it had been a sales job I would have won it.
“I really did want to work for him. But I just wasn’t prepared to carry on. It was the right time for me to go, The time I spent away from my family was just too much.”

On her past

Mona, who worked for NatWest bank in the High Street, moved to Sittingbourne in 2006.
She had previously lived in Halfway Road, Queenborough, and said she was delighted with the support she had received.
“I’ve been so pleased with the press coverage, its been fabulous, I can’t thank them enough. As a foreigner I’ve been overwhelmed by the support. People recognise me in the street.
“I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, I did Sittingbourne proud and put them on the map.”

On the show

Mona said her favourite task and highlight of the show was last week’s mission in which the teams had to sell British inventors products.
She said: “Being dumped in Manchester was amazing, I’ve never been there, it was a great challenge was just great seeing it all come together and the team working together.”
Ms Lewis is now running a business support organisation, helping small business to get the London 2012 supply chain. She said she was “keeping my options open”.
A page set up on the social networking site Facebook is full of praise for her.
Friend and site owner Gary Woodger said he was pleased at how Ms Lewis came across. The site now has 103 members, many of the male members saying how attractive they thought she was.
One person said: “Wow what a nice bit of stuff she is, fantastic eyes and smile hope we get to see more of her on TV now as she is sure to get loads of offers for work after leaving last night’s prog.”