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Bradford-born Ellie was the first victim of Lord Sugar's shock double firing after the pet food task. The Apprentice Insider caught up with her to discuss her team's dog's dinner of a product, her catty clash with Felicity and THAT massage room moment with Jim…

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"I think that the task failed with the name Every Dog obviously," explained the Northern lass. "It was too generic and didn’t make people feel special enough about their own pets. That was Jim's idea and Vince should have taken him into the boardroom. I still think Vince would have been fired because, although it was Jim's idea, he let Jim lead it too much and wasn't a Project Manager enough possibly."

So why does Ellie think she ended up in the firing line? The construction recruitment specialist felt that she "should have shouted louder basically. If I could do it again, I would say 'look – we need to be doing it more niche' and stressing the point that I have a small dog and buy small dog food I suppose."

Ellie believes that her Project Manager Vincent and his chum Jim played a large part in her eventual dismissal. "I think that perhaps it was a bit strategic taking me and Natasha into the boardroom," pondered the dog owner. "We'd both been in there the week before. He did listen to Jim too much and should have taken him back in. He was a little bit influenced by the fact he was his friend. A double firing is unusual and it's just a shame that it wasn't Vincent on his own."

"I felt pretty gutted when I got fired," she continued, "but at the same time I'd had a really good experience and I wasn't as gutted as I perhaps should have been to be fair. I think that I was getting frustrated with not being heard enough. That was where I failed really – I didn't tell the Project Manager what I'd done if I hadn't been with them. I should have told them more about how I'd contributed towards the task."

In the previous beauty treatments task, Ellie's Project Manager Felicity felt her wrath after trying to lay the blame at her feet in front of Lord Sugar. Ellie explained: "I found myself quite exhilarated by the boardroom experience. I like the challenge of it. [But] I think when Felicity took me in on the fourth task I was absolutely livid because I felt it was unjustified, so I was on a roll with it."

Many viewers were surprised that Ellie shunned the normal routine of bidding farewell to the fired candidate after Felicity was given the boot. In hindsight, would she have conducted herself differently? Not a chance. "I don't regret not saying goodbye to her really because I felt she was unjustified," stated the unflinching former candidate. "If I have an argument with someone I don't go up to them minutes later and hug them and say 'bye' to them. I think it's a little bit hypocritical."

On a lighter note, what did Ellie make of the classic Apprentice moment when her plans to massage two students were interrupted by Jim's arrival and claim that "four hands are better than two"? "I think when Jim came into the massage room it was hilarious. He looked too eager to massage those two lads – and I think they were a bit scared by his eagerness as well! I think both of them wanted me to do them rather than him!"

"I'm now an expert at giving hot seashell massages and I have been asked for it numerous times since I left The Apprentice!" she added.

What do you think of Ellie's efforts on The Apprentice and her firing? Let us know by clicking on the Comments button.

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