I chatted to Lancashire's The Apprentice candidate Paul Bowen

Lancashire's The Apprentice candidate Paul Bowen on whether he was the right person to be fired...

Transcript

00:00 It is nice to virtually meet you, sad that it's so soon into the process. So maybe,

00:09 Paul, should we just start by asking you how are you feeling to be leaving The Apprentice?

00:14 Obviously disappointed, you know what I mean, but hey, I made a few mistakes, you know,

00:20 I think if I'd have been sat where he was sat, I think I'd have sat myself too. So,

00:25 it was, yeah, it's always disappointing to go out so early. I generally thought I had

00:29 a shot at winning. So to go out week two, you know, it is a bit of a disappointment,

00:36 I ain't gonna lie, it was gutting, but I couldn't hide behind the mistakes. So, you know, unfortunately,

00:43 yes, it was my time to go.

00:46 So you did think you were the right one to go that week?

00:49 Yeah, you know, I don't think, to be honest, it was down to what I did, as in, I think

00:57 I was right to push the chocolate still, obviously maybe not as much, you know, but we've been

01:04 given chocolate, I'd gone there to sell chocolate. I think £6 for a cheesecake is still expensive,

01:10 I'd have gone down to £4. I mean, £13, flipping hell, Flo must have had dick-turping with

01:18 her. But, you know, at the end of the day, I made profit, obviously we didn't win, but

01:26 if that was a business, that had been a good day at the office, for me anyway. But what

01:32 I didn't do is I didn't back myself. You know, I do, I sit there and I watch myself and it's

01:38 mad to believe really, I'm a very confident person, but I didn't have self-confidence.

01:43 I kind of didn't, you know, it's very Roman, here at Bowie Pies, obviously, I'm at the

01:47 top here, I don't have to explain myself to anyone. And when you've got Lord Sugar telling

01:52 you off like an aughty school kid, you know what I mean? It was a different thing and

01:55 I almost, dare I say, give in. And I think having had a thought a little bit harder,

02:01 having had a, you know, gone in on someone and sort of laid down the law and why I should

02:07 have been his next business partner, I did give in. And so, yeah, looking back at it,

02:12 I think, yeah, I'd have sat me in all.

02:14 So, would it be fair to say you were more intimidated by the process than you thought

02:19 you were going to be?

02:20 Yes, actually. Yes, I was. I thought, you know, because everyone says to me, oh, you'll

02:25 do great on that because, you know, if you meet me day to day, not a lot phases me. I

02:30 tell you how it is. But, you know, meeting someone that you've seen on your telly, you

02:36 know, what are we on, 17 years now or was it 20? 20, I think. I can't remember how old

02:42 I was to show my age. But, do you know what I mean? And then to, you know, meet a business

02:47 tycoon such as Lord Sugar, do you know what I mean? I just sat there in awe, I think,

02:51 at half of it. And, you know, I'm trying to be funny, but they're trying to be serious

02:55 and should I do this, should I do that? And you think, oh.

02:58 You've obviously already mentioned you perhaps regret not sticking up for yourself as much.

03:02 But have you got anything you're proud of in your time that you were on the show?

03:07 I think a lot of it falls down to really is showing what I'm about, which I get on with

03:13 everybody. I see myself as, you know, quite sort of funny, as in like a comedian funny,

03:20 but someone that's just nice to be with. And I still think I kept that up. I showed, which

03:26 I've always said from the start is business acumen. I've showed that I've got business

03:30 skills. And I think I got that across well. It was just literally, I just didn't fight

03:36 the corner and that's just something that I need to work on.