After twelve weeks, Ricky Martin has walked away with Lord Sugar’s £250,000 investment on The Apprentice 2012 this evening.
That’s right, the semi-professional wrestler from Portsmouth is the winner of this year’s Apprentice.
Ricky battled it out in a four-way final against 23-year-old wine investor Tom Gearing, 29-year-old business development manager Jade Nash and 25-year-old technology entrepreneur Nick Holzherr. With Jade and Nick fired first, Ricky went up against Tom in the last two.
Ricky was declared Lord Sugar’s business partner at the end of a twelve-week process, which saw Ricky divulge the business plan in which he was hoping to secure Lord Sugar’s investment – a recruitment agency specialising in science and technology.
Ricky didn’t strike us as the winner back when he started the show, opening the series claiming to be the ‘reflection of perfection’, but he managed to win over Lord Sugar’s most trusted business advisers.
As Lord Sugar debated his final decision this evening, Karren Brady advised: “ Ricky has got great credibility in the field. He’s the one that has changed the most over the process.”
Despite branding him an “arrogant fool”, Claude Littner also said: “I’ve got to say, I’m mesmerized by the guy.”
In the nail-biting final boardroom scene, faced with a tough decision, Lord Sugar concluded” “It’s a very very difficult moment for me right now.
“You’re both credible people to invest money in so is it the devil or is it the safety. And I should keep to my ethos of keeping it simple, keeping it straightforward. So Ricky you’re going to be my business partner. Ricky, you’re hired.”
After the news, Ricky said” “Lord Sugar and I are going to be a powerful force to reckon with. I can’t say I’ve digested it yet. I’m ecstatic. Genuine shock, I’m so so pleased. Tom is incredible at what he does, great competition but I believed in myself, I thought I always I had it in me and I proved it.”
Runner up Tom Gearing added: “If I was going to lose to anyone I was happy it was Ricky. He was such a strong and credible candidate. We had some amazing experiences, I met some really good people, it was fantastic, and I have no regrets about it at all.”
One opportunity. 16 candidates. Lord Sugar’s search for his business partner has come to an end… for another year.
Lord Sugar will be back with a new series of the Young Apprentice in the autumn on BBC One.
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