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Kelly Webb-Lamb at the Duke of Cambridge |
The Apprentice winner must have ‘a bit of bite’
Simon Wroe meets The Apprentice producer Kelly Webb-Lamb for some organic pub grub
APPRENTICE series producer Kelly Webb-Lamb looks across the table and, before I even have a chance to ask, says: “You know I can’t tell you who wins.”
I have met Ms Webb-Lamb in the Duke of Cambridge, a celebrated organic pub in St Peter’s Street, near her Highbury home, to have lunch and discuss the show.
She is keen to dispel the myths surrounding the hit TV programme, produced by Talkback, now in its third season on the BBC.
But first, we must tackle the menu.
“I don’t usually like pubs,” she says. “But this is lovely. The fact that it’s all organic is great too.”
Kelly picks the house smoked salmon with beetroot, fennel, capers, pickled cauliflower and soft-boiled egg (£7.95), while I go for the whole-roast trout with boiled new potatoes, spinach and skordalia (a Scandinavian bread sauce) for £15.50. Then it is down to business.
More than 10,000 people applied to be the apprentice of multi-millionaire entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar this time around. Now there are just nine contestants left.
Every week, the hard-nosed businessman dismisses another contender with his trademark “You’re fired!” send-off. But is he really as tough as he seems?
“He is absolutely as he is on TV,” Ms Webb-Lamb says.
“But I think he’s very fair with the contestants. He calls a spade a spade, which is very un-British.
“I think it’s tough and it has to be tough. When contestants come out of the boardroom you can hear their hearts pounding from behind the cameras – but people on The Apprentice are put through rigorous psychological testing to make sure they’re tough enough.”
Ms Webb-Lamb describes her relation with Sir Alan as a “collaboration”, in which they devise the tasks the contestants must undergo together.
“He has a very clear idea of what he wants and takes a very hands-on approach,” she says.
Ms Webb-Lamb is also a huge fan of the “community feel” of Highbury and raves about the nearby Drayton Park Primary School, which her oldest daughter Orla attends.
“It’s exactly what a London school should be,” she says. “It’s open to everyone who knocks on their door, while still trying to keep standards as good as they can be.
“Its teaching is excellent, but it gives so much in addition to that.”
Ms Webb-Lamb, who also produced the Back To The Floor series, believes the secret of a good TV show is its finale.
“As a producer the thing you always worry about in a programme is how you’re going to end it,”she says. “The formula of The Apprentice means it always makes great drama.”
After all this, I am still itching to ask – who is going to win?
“I really couldn’t say,” she smiles. “Sir Alan likes people that stick up for themselves, with a bit of spark and bite – but I wouldn’t ever try to second guess him.”
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