Baroness Karren Brady, 52, has candidly admitted there was a moment during the filming of the new series of The Apprentice where she had to face her fears. It happened during a task commissioned by Lord Alan Sugar, in which the contestants had to zoom down a zip wire.
Asked about her favourite task, Karren confessed that one particular moment left her “terrified” as she has a fear of heights.
She said: “I think my favourite task, which is quite unusual… Alan sent the candidates to Wales to do a tourism campaign for Wales.
“And one of the places that they had to go, which is the one the team I was following chose, has Europe’s longest and highest zip wire.
“And, of course, I go down it and I’m terrified of heights. And it was absolutely pouring with rain.
“I have to say I was pretty terrified but nowhere near as terrified as the candidates who squealed.
“And we did have a bit of fun with that,” said the vice-chairman of West Ham United FC.
Karren joined the hit BBC One show in 2009 as Lord Sugar’s new assistant, replacing Margaret Mountford.
Margaret left the programme but returned in series 6, 7, 8 and 9 as a guest interviewer.
“And talking about shoes, she phoned me and she said, ‘I’m telling you right now, wear trainers,’ she said, ‘You are on your feet 12 hours a day’.”
The business executive continued: “And of course I didn’t take her advice.
“First episode I wore heels, and at the end of my first day I remember I was laying in the bath and my feet were throbbing.
“And I quickly took Margaret’s advice and wore the trainers.
“So I’ve learned I can’t stand on my feet for more than 12 hours a day without wearing trainers.”
This year, Karren and Lord Sugar are joined by new recruit Tim Campbell after fellow aide Claude Littner dropped out of the series due to a cycling accident.
Tim won the first show back in 2005 and was offered a £100,000 per year job.
He also expressed his gratitude after being able to have “come full circle” since his early days on the programme.