Former The Apprentice star James Hill has branded the winner of his series a “low-risk.”

James, 37, from Chesterfield, Derbyshire appeared on the programme in 2014 alongside the likes of Solomon Akhtar, Roisin Hogan, Bianca Miller and winner, Mark Wright. On three occasions during his stint, James was in the losing team, taken into the boardroom on one occasion.

But, he did however impress Lord Sugar, winning one task, serving as project manager for another and winning a challenge as project manager for another task. However, after just eight tasks, James was carted off back to his hometown after being told: “You’re fired.” His series was eventually won by sales manager, Mark Wright.

In an exclusive interview with the Mirror, James has revealed his thoughts on Mark and opened up about any regrets he may have had about his experience, having been fired in ninth place. “On my season, I’d say it was me and Lord Sugar that had the biggest rapport,” he said.

James went on to add: “I just don’t think I was the right business proposition at the time. I think the person that won it was low-risk and was an easy investment. It was the right decision. When I went, it was my time to go – I was tired, exhausted and it was so difficult. I don’t have any regrets, everything I did was right for the time.”

But what would he say to this years contestants as they enter the third week of the show? James revealed: “Enjoy it. For me, I knew when to be serious and when I could have a laugh. Not many people get that experience, so make every moment count. To win the show though, you need to show strengths in every area of all tasks.”

Viewers will know that show boss, Lord Alan Sugar has a strict no-nonsense attitude but James believes that the avid EastEnders fan might not be too worried if a contestant fails a task. He explained: “I don’t think Lord Sugar is bothered if you fail a task, he just needs to see that you’ve thought about creativity, managing a team, selling, making hard decisions, and rectifying your mistakes.

“Lord Sugar is really good at judging how someone will be after the show based on all these tasks, he knows people’s strengths and weaknesses, and sometimes the weakness might be a good thing, he can spot ways to make them strengths.” While there are 12 episodes each series, James revealed that the show was filmed over five weeks. “They filmed each episode back to back,” he revealed, before explaining that he was filming for four weeks.

“The boardroom is 10 or 15 minutes on the show,” he said of the famous grilling process, before adding that it would take around eight or nine hours to film the short scenes that viewers will see each Thursday night. During his time on the show, Baroness Karren Brady and Nick Hewer served as advisors to Lord Sugar – but this isn’t something that intimated James.

Instead of being in fear of the two almighty business owners, James went out of his way to strike up a conversation with them both each week. While he admits he should have concentrated more on the tasks at hand, he believed by talking to both Baroness Brady and Nick, he would develop a deeper understanding of the business world.

The Apprentice airs tonight at 9pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

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