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The Apprentice: we chat to fired Mona Lewis
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Former teenage beauty queen, senior financial manager and mum-of-one Mona Lewis was the latest of Sir Alan’s would-be Apprentices to be shown the door last night when her team spectacularly failed to turn the town of Margate into Britain’s new gay Mecca. We caught up with her to ask her a few questions about it all.
Commiserations on being fired, Mona…
Mona Lewis: Well, you say commiserations but to be honest I’m just really happy because I get to spend time with my beautiful little boy again!
Oh OK, well done then. Do you think you deserved to go?
Mona Lewis: Yes and no, yes and no. Obviously we failed the task, but by that stage I was missing my little boy and my heart just wasn’t really in it anymore.
So you’d completely had enough by that stage?
Mona Lewis: Well, I was still professional and I don’t think it showed in my performance on the task, but I think in the boardroom Sir Alan could tell I was missing my little boy. It showed, it really did show. I don’t think I stood up for myself very well. I think I could’ve put up more of a fight.
Who do you think deserved to get fired last night?
Mona Lewis: Oh, definitely Debra. She was project manager, so she should’ve been held responsible for the whole thing. Her client management was poor, she had no business skills at all. She definitely deserved to go.
Do you think she’s being kept in because she makes good TV?
Mona Lewis: I don’t really know about the production side of things, so I couldn’t say. I do admire her in a way, she’s one of those people who says exactly what she wants and doesn’t give a s***, and for her age [24] I think she’s doing well.
A lot was made of your opposition to rebranding Margate as a gay resort. Do you think that was unfair?
Mona Lewis: No, I think it was fair because it showed I wanted to appeal to the family market. Why minimise your target and say: ‘Oh, I just want gay people’? You can still be gay and be part of a family. I don’t think we should have limited the campaign to such a specific audience, the gay market could still be included if we rebranded Margate for the family market.
Who’s your tip to go on and win The Apprentice?
Mona Lewis: Well, I think anyone can at the end of the day. Every week there seems to be another shock firing. But I hope Yasmina wins, because I see a little bit of me in her, with that little bit extra that I don’t have.
What are your plans now?
Mona Lewis: No specific plans. I’ve got a lot of experience in the short life I’ve had - I’ve done a bit of modelling, TV presenting, a bit of banking - so I may choose something I’ve done in the past or something totally new. Whatever it is, I’m going to make sure the work-life balance is right.
“Work/life balance”? Pah! I bet Sir Alan’ll choke on his cornflakes when he reads that. Anyway, thanks Mona!
Interview: Stewart Turner
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