The Apprentice: Akshay Thakrar says he ‘would’ve made the same decision’ after being fired by Lord Sugar

Virgin Radio

3 Mar 2022, 22:13

After losing eight out of nine tasks, Akshay Thakrar has been booted from The Apprentice boardroom. 

The digital marketing agency owner was told to be Project Manager by Lord Sugar the week prior, forcing him to take the lead for the TV sales task. 

The teams were asked to find the best products to sell on top TV shopping channels, including a high-priced ring and airfryer, but after failing to secure the best items, and a disastrous on-air performance, Akshay was finally sent packing. 

Viewers at home have been perplexed by Akshay’s ability to stay in the competition, despite being in the losing team eight out of nine times, and back in the bottom three on many occasions.

During a press Q&A with virginradio.co.uk and other outlets, Akshay admitted he’s not surprised Lord Sugar pointed the firing finger his way this week - and would've done the same thing.

When asked if he thought his firing was justified, he replied: “I have two answers for you! First one is yes, because losing 8 out of 9 tasks isn’t a great track-record, let's be honest! If I were in Lord Sugar’s shoes, I would have made the same decision based on that! 

“But on the other hand, if you look at the reason as to why the task failed; securing that ring would have had a big impact and it was make or break, really. Steff [as sub-team leader] didn’t get that right and it did cost us the task.”

Despite his less than stellar performance week-by-week, Lord Sugar still seemingly held Akshay in high regard, asking him to ‘keep in touch’. 

On that encouraging comment, Akshay replied: “100% I’ll stay in touch with Lord Sugar. I mean, it just made everything so worthwhile; I wouldn’t change a thing. I think the fact that I went into the boardroom so many times allowed me to build some sort of bond with Lord Sugar in a weird way! 

“I got so much time with him, he got to see a little bit more of me, and I literally sat there like a sponge just absorbing as much as I could; the way he talks, the way he moves, the way he makes decisions. I will stay in touch, for sure. I am grateful because he hasn’t said that to anybody else.”

Despite losing out on the majority of his tasks, Akshay is adamant he’s not to blame, but does understand why people keep referring to him as ‘a cat with nine lives’. 

He continued: “If you look at the reasons as to why the tasks failed, I wasn’t directly responsible for them and that’s just what I highlighted in the boardroom. I stuck to the facts, kept it very clear and always kept it relevant to business. 

“I think that’s why I survived so much to be honest with you. I kept it to the point, I didn’t make it personal at any time, I highlighted what went wrong and Lord Sugar saw that.”

The Apprentice continues next Thursday at 9pm on BBC One, followed by You’re Fired on BBC Two. Watch live and on-demand on BBC iPlayer.